Abstract
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed in Italy at the end of January 2020, when the first positive cases for the virus were identified. At the beginning of March, the virus had spread to all Italian regions and on 10 March 2020 the lockdown phase began, limiting the movement of people and prohibiting almost all commercial activities, businesses and non-essential industries. As a result, millions of people were forced to stay at home, causing a drastic drop in traffic volume, which significantly changed the acoustic environment and air quality of cities. On 4 May 2020, the lockdown was partially lifted and activities were progressively reopened. Therefore, traffic gradually started to increase and, consequently, the noise emitted by motor vehicles. This behaviour was confirmed by the data collected by the DYNAMAP system, an automatic platform developed within the LIFE DYNAMAP project, providing real time traffic noise maps in terms of sound pressure levels and impacts at receivers (people and dwellings exposed to noise level bands). In this paper traffic and non-traffic-related noise events in the cities of Rome and Milan from March to May 2020 are analysed and compared to the corresponding values in 2019 to evaluate the effects of the lockdown period.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed in Italy at the end of January 2020, when the first positive cases for the virus were identified
Traffic gradually started to increase and, the noise emitted by motor vehicles. This behaviour was confirmed by the data collected by the DYNAMAP system, an automatic platform developed within the LIFE DYNAMAP project, providing real time traffic noise maps in terms of sound pressure levels and impacts at receivers
Noise data were gathered from the DYNAMAP System [4, 5], an automatic platform developed under the LIFE DYNAMAP project in the cities of Milan and Rome, providing updated noise maps in real time, including the estimate of the number of people and dwellings exposed to noise levels
Summary
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed in Italy at the end of January 2020, when the first positive cases for the virus were identified. Traffic gradually started to increase and, the noise emitted by motor vehicles This behaviour was confirmed by the data collected by the DYNAMAP system, an automatic platform developed within the LIFE DYNAMAP project, providing real time traffic noise maps in terms of sound pressure levels and impacts at receivers (people and dwellings exposed to noise level bands). As part of the lockdown measures, millions of people were forced to stay at home, resulting in a drastic fall of traffic volume, that significantly changed the soundscape and air quality of cities [3]. Noise data were gathered from the DYNAMAP System [4, 5], an automatic platform developed under the LIFE DYNAMAP project in the cities of Milan and Rome, providing updated noise maps in real time, including the estimate of the number of people and dwellings exposed to noise levels. A comprehensive data analysis is provided to assess the effects engendered by the lockdown measures
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