Structural equation modeling of partial and total annoyances due to urban road traffic and aircraft noises

Abstract

Data of a French in situ socio-acoustic survey were used to model partial annoyance due to urban road traffic noise, partial annoyance due to aircraft noise and total annoyance due to these combined noises. Structural equation modeling carried out on the in situ data showed that long-term noise annoyance depends on noise exposure but also on noise disturbance, dwelling satisfaction, visibility of a main road from the dwelling and noise sensitivity. Both noise exposure and noise sensitivity were introduced as independent variables in structural equation modeling of partial and total noise annoyances. Their contributions to the models highlight the necessity to consider these two variables in annoyance model prediction. Finally, in total noise annoyance models, whereas partial annoyance due to aircraft noise contributes to total noise annoyance as much as partial road traffic annoyance, aircraft noise exposure contributes to total noise annoyance much more than road traffic noise. Several reasons may explai...