Assessing human response to infrequent blast noise events

Larry Pater, Edward Nykaza, Kathleen Kindlin Hodgdon, Anthony A. Atchley, Robert Baumgartner, Pamela Rathbun, George Luz

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

In 1974, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommended that all types of noise environments be assessed in terms of the annual time-averaged sound level. Noise impact on human communities is often assessed in terms of the percent of the community that is highly annoyed, as a function of annual time-averaged sound exposure level. This has proven to be unsatisfactory for assessing community response to military blast noise. Infrequent event noise levels from military testing and training activities can be loud enough to elicit strong negative community response, yet the annual time-averaged noise level may meet established acceptability criteria. Moreover, experience has shown that citizens and decision makers have great difficulty relating annual time-averaged noise levels to the blast noise events that they experience. As an interim procedure, Department of Defense stakeholders supplement annual time-averaged noise levels with individual event peak noise level criteria that indicate complaint risk. This paper describes methodology to establish dose-response cause-and-effect relationships between high-energy impulsive noise metrics and human response.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationInstitute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA - 22nd National Conference on Noise Control Engineering, NOISE-CON 2007
Pages85-91
Number of pages7
StatePublished - Dec 1 2007
Event22nd National Conference on Noise Control Engineering, NOISE-CON 2007 - Reno, NV, United States
Duration: Oct 22 2007Oct 24 2007

Publication series

NameInstitute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA - 22nd National Conference on Noise Control Engineering, NOISE-CON 2007
Volume1

Other

Other22nd National Conference on Noise Control Engineering, NOISE-CON 2007
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityReno, NV
Period10/22/0710/24/07

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Acoustics and Ultrasonics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Assessing human response to infrequent blast noise events'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this