SoundPLAN Blog

CNOSSOS-EU is the common noise assessment method that replaced Annex II of the Environmental Noise Directive. What it covers, the legal instruments behind it, the thresholds that trigger it, and how it differs from ISO 9613-2.

A practical checklist for selecting noise mapping and prediction software: which calculation standards you must report against, model scale, source types, outputs, data import, licensing and traceability.

The structure of a defensible noise impact assessment: baseline, construction and operational phases, receptor selection, criteria, mitigation and uncertainty - and the omissions that get reports sent back.

Road and rail noise behave differently and are assessed differently. Source characteristics, the inputs that govern accuracy, where barriers work, and why option comparison beats single-scheme reporting.

What ISO 9613-2 actually calculates, the attenuation terms it uses, the conditions it assumes, and where it stops being valid. A practical guide for engineers predicting industrial noise.

Refineries and gas plants carry two separate noise obligations - worker exposure and community impact - measured differently, against different standards. How to model both without conflating them.

Strategic noise maps are planning instruments, not pictures. What goes into one, what CNOSSOS-EU and Lden mean, and how exposure data turns into action plans that change decisions.