Wind turbine sound pressure level calculations at dwellings.

Stephen E. Keith,Allison Denning,Sonia A. Voicescu,Jason Tsang,Victor Soukhovtsev,Frits van den Berg,Norm Broner,Tony Leroux,Werner Richarz,Katya Feder

doi:10.1121/1.4942404

Abstract

This paper provides calculations of outdoor sound pressure levels (SPLs) at dwellings for 10 wind turbine models, to support Health Canada's Community Noise and Health Study. Manufacturer supplied and measured wind turbine sound power levels were used to calculate outdoor SPL at 1238 dwellings using ISO [(1996). ISO 9613-2-Acoustics] and a Swedish noise propagation method. Both methods yielded statistically equivalent results. The A- and C-weighted results were highly correlated over the 1238 dwellings (Pearson's linear correlation coefficient r > 0.8). Calculated wind turbine SPLs were compared to ambient SPLs from other sources, estimated using guidance documents from the United States and Alberta, Canada.

Highlights

In Canada, the sound pressure level (SPL) of outdoor community noise at a dwelling is typically predicted with the International Organization for Standardization standards (ISO, 1993, 1996)
This paper describes the calculation of SPLs and noise propagation modeling carried out for the Community Noise and Health Study (CNHS)
The agreement between the two methods shows that over flat farmland, SEPA (2012) can be a useful alternative to ISO (1996). These results show that the CNHS SPL estimates were calculated in a manner that is similar to, or consistent with, a range of previous studies (Pedersen and Persson Waye, 2004; Pedersen, 2007; Pedersen et al, 2009; Pawlaczyk-Łuszczynska et al, 2014)

Summary

Introduction

In Canada, the sound pressure level (SPL) of outdoor community noise at a dwelling is typically predicted with the International Organization for Standardization standards (ISO, 1993, 1996). It is not currently feasible to use more sophisticated methods than ISO (1996) as those methods require data that are usually not available: a sound speed profile, or wind speed and temperature as a function of height (Attenborough et al, 1995). The derivation of such data using cloud cover (Eurasto, 2006; Jonasson, 2007) is not feasible in rural Canada as this information is typically only available in urban areas or at airports, which often are hundreds of kilometers away, and are not typically near wind turbines. Canadian model was consistent with the limited available measured data from the study and it showed that the wind turbines in the CNHS tended to be sited away from existing roads and densely populated areas

Methods

Results

Conclusion