Assessment of methods for simplified traffic noise mapping of small cities: Casework of the city of Valdivia, Chile

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2016-04, Vol.550, p.439-448
• Main Authors: Bastián-Monarca, Nicolás A., Suárez, Enrique, Arenas, Jorge P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustic simulation; Environmental noise in cities; Simplified methods; Traffic noise modeling
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.139

In many countries such as Chile, there is scarce official information for generating accurate noise maps. Therefore, specific simplification methods are becoming a real need for the acoustic community in developing countries. Thus, the main purpose of this work was to evaluate and apply simplified methods to generate a cost-effective traffic noise map of a small city of Chile. The experimental design involved the simplification of the cartographic information on buildings by clustering the households within a block, and the classification of the vehicular traffic flows into categories to generate an inexpensive noise map. The streets have been classified according to the official road classification of the country. Segregation of vehicles from light, heavy and motorbikes is made to account for traffic flow. In addition, a number of road traffic noise models were compared with noise measurements and consequently the road traffic model RLS-90 was chosen to generate the noise map of the city using the Computer Aided Noise Abatement (CadnaA) software. It was observed a direct dependence between noise levels and traffic flow versus each category of street used. The methodology developed in this study appears to be convenient in developing countries to obtain accurate approximations to develop inexpensive traffic noise maps. [Display omitted] •A simplified traffic noise mapping method is successfully applied to a small city.•A road traffic noise prediction model is applied to a small city of Chile.•A simplified acoustic method for modeling buildings produces acceptable results.•An official road classification can be used for road traffic noise modeling.•A road traffic noise map is developed at low cost and with limited information.