Optimized tools and process for a better prediction of future aircraft noise perception

Abstract

Reducing the annoyance related to the noise generated by aircraft flyovers near airports is a major concern of the aeronautical industry. Noise source reduction is one of the pillars of the balanced approach of the International Civil Aviation Organization of, but further research is still needed to understand and reduce unpleasantness and annoyance due to aircraft noise. From a psychoacoustics point of view, it is particularly important to understand and assess the effects related to perceived phenomena such as tonality, roughness, and beats created by produced tones whose frequencies can be more or less close to each other. Indeed, these phenomena increase unpleasantness at similar noise levels. This article describes optimized tools and overall process used for studies applied to current and future aircraft noise perception such as: noise source modeling, simulation of the propagation to the ground, 3D sound rendering on a multi-speaker system, perceptual evaluation, statistical analysis, and regression analyses between measured unpleasantness and Effective Perceived Noise Level (EPNL) and other indicators.