The influence of subjective response on the choice of measurement for aircraft arrival noise at Nantucket Airport

Abstract

The Nantucket Airport in Massachusetts serves primarily turboprop commuter aircraft, and private or charter jets, with most of its operations in the summer. A seasonal homeowner was severely affected by arrival flight noise and requested noise measurements and noise control recommendations for this architect‐designed residence. Time was spent with the homeowner to understand steps already taken, and problems still causing trouble. Standard measurement procedures for aircraft operations in the United States call for the use of A‐weighted, slow response for the assessment of noise impact. Since the noise sources at this airport have strong tonal components (from the propellers), and noise control recommendations were sought, one‐second 1/3‐octave band levels were used to both document the observed problem, and to estimate the field transmission loss of the windows and doors. Measurements were made during a Friday afternoon, when arriving aircraft were mostly 1.5 to 2 min apart. A‐weighted maximum and single event levels (SELs) were also measured for each overflight, for comparison with published aircraft data. A “short circuit” was found due to an exposed vent pipe, which resulted in no transmission loss in the 100 Hz band. Appropriate recommendations were made.