Influence of microclimatic elements on sound propagation in Amazonian cities: The case of urban noise in Belem.

Abstract

Many studies have shown that microclimatic elements influence the sound propagation in cities, and can contribute to increasing or decreasing the urban noise. This paper aims to discuss the relationship between main microclimatic elements - air temperature, air humidity, atmospheric pressure and winds - and the noise caused by road traffic in an Amazonian urban environment, in order to emphasize the importance of urban planning instruments be adapted to the specific microclimatic conditions, promoting the improvement of the urban environment from more efficient building strategies for controlling the sound pollution. For this, it's used as basis a theoretical framework on the topic, meteorological data from Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology and illustrative maps of the city of Belem. It was found that the temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure, for this microclimate, do not collaborate for reducing road traffic noise, leaving this responsibility to the winds (air ventilation) and the way they behave within the built urban mass. KEYS Urban noise - Urban Microclimate - Amazonian environment