Development of an open-source road traffic noise model for exposure assessment

TLDR

This study develops an open‑source GIS model, TRANEX, for traffic noise exposure assessment, aiming to match air‑pollution modelling geometry and optimize performance for large‑scale, high‑resolution exposure estimation. TRANEX was evaluated by comparing its LAeq,1hr predictions with field measurements in Leicester and Norwich, and then applied to estimate LAeq,1hr, LAeq,16hr, and Lnight exposures for London residents from 2003 to 2010. The model shows strong correlation with measurements (r = 0.85–0.95, mean error ≈ 3 dB) and estimates that 12 % of Londoners (≈1.03 million) are exposed to ≥65 dB(A) daytime noise and 19 % (≈1.63 million) to ≥55 dB(A) nighttime noise, with only ~0.25–0.26 dB average changes between 2010 and 2003.

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a model for assessing TRAffic Noise EXposure (TRANEX) in an open-source geographic information system. Instead of using proprietary software we developed our own model for two main reasons: 1) so that the treatment of source geometry, traffic information (flows/speeds/spatially varying diurnal traffic profiles) and receptors matched as closely as possible to that of the air pollution modelling being undertaken in the TRAFFIC project, and 2) to optimize model performance for practical reasons of needing to implement a noise model with detailed source geometry, over a large geographical area, to produce noise estimates at up to several million address locations, with limited computing resources. To evaluate TRANEX, noise estimates were compared with noise measurements made in the British cities of Leicester and Norwich. High correlation was seen between modelled and measured LAeq,1hr (Norwich: r = 0.85, p = .000; Leicester: r = 0.95, p = .000) with average model errors of 3.1 dB. TRANEX was used to estimate noise exposures (LAeq,1hr, LAeq,16hr, Lnight) for the resident population of London (2003–2010). Results suggest that 1.03 million (12%) people are exposed to daytime road traffic noise levels ≥ 65 dB(A) and 1.63 million (19%) people are exposed to night-time road traffic noise levels ≥ 55 dB(A). Differences in noise levels between 2010 and 2003 were on average relatively small: 0.25 dB (standard deviation: 0.89) and 0.26 dB (standard deviation: 0.87) for LAeq,16hr and Lnight.