As activity reduced during the pandemic, levels of noise and air pollution also decreased. Data from seismologists undertaken in March 2020 in numerous major cities, such as London and Los Angeles, show that average noise levels decreased, due to less traffic and reduced industrial activity. As the world gets ‘back to work’, we must ensure that these green gains are not reversed. The silence in our streets during the pandemic has made us aware that it’s not cities themselves that create noise, but the people within them.

Working safer and smarter
We are all going to have to work extremely hard on the road to recovery from this pandemic, so we might as well be smarter about it, by using the best technology and data possible. As restrictions are eased, the Indian government and industry must work hard to ensure that complacency doesn’t creep in and continue to protect people and places.

    In its 2021 ‘World Report on Hearing’, the WHO indicates that there are currently 401 million people in the South-East Asia region living with hearing loss. By 2050, it estimates that 666 million people are projected to have problems with their hearing.

    Focus should not only be on combatting the virus risk, but also on a range of other factors that impact our wellbeing, including air and noise pollution, and encouraging clean energy solutions. As specialists in noise control and mapping software, we are convinced that even after the pandemic, levels can be systematically decreased.

    It is not hard to recognise nuisance noise, but identifying its exact source and field of propagation can be a very different matter. If you are going to reduce it and mitigate its harmful effects, then you need to know as much about it as possible. To be truly effective, any attempts at its control must be based on an accurate analysis rather than guesswork or reference to previously recorded levels.

    Smart solutions bring together infrastructure and technology to improve and connect urban development. The Indian government has recognised the importance of this through initiatives such as its ‘Smart Cities Mission’, which aims to drive economic growth and improve the quality of people’s lives, by enabling local area improvements and harnessing technology, especially options that lead to Smart outcomes.

    One example is IoT technology, which enables objects (devices, buildings, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity) to communicate with each other through the internet. This includes noise sensors, online noise monitoring platforms, and noise mapping software.

    Advances in technology mean that, not only can existing noise be calculated and moderated, but by using mapping software, future levels can be predicted and assessed before projects have even begun. Using this simulation software, a visual demonstration of where the noise comes from, and how it propagates, can be produced.

Testing out scenarios with data

Mapping software goes much further than measurements, which only record the overall level of noise as it occurs at a specific geographic point. A noise map shows the position of sources including all geometrical data and noise levels inside and outside a building. Each noise map is unique, according to project size, geography, objectives, the relevant noise sources, but most of all, on what data is available and can be readily acquired to be imported and used.

    Using this input data, noise mapping software can create realistic simulation models of how noise will propagate. The data can come from multiple different sources, graphical information systems or other mapping services, counts of traffic mix for road and rail roads, manufacturers’ specifications, software libraries or any other source.

    Different noise components, from a range of locations and from multiple sources, can be broken down, including machinery and equipment. This means that the impact can be evaluated across a range of locations, to show the sources of the loudest noise, and propagation across the site. It can also help show how well mitigation factors, such as a noise protection wall or soundproofing of equipment, may work.

    Noise maps can also be used for specialist purposes, such as the positioning of turbines, as they show how noise will move across the landscape in different environmental situations. More importantly, it can show how mitigation measures can affect the flow of noise and protect workers. To be fully effective it is important to understand what type of mitigation method will be most appropriate in each setting and exactly where it should be positioned. Getting it wrong can be costly in both financial and health terms.

    The mapping software gives the option of developing ‘ what if scenarios’ so that the impact of developments or activities can be assessed in advance. Different options can be trialled and costed on the computer, rather than having to expensively retrofit noise mitigation measures. Future noise levels can be predicted, and pre-emptive steps taken to control it. With this approach, noise mitigation can be targeted in the most cost-efficient way.