Psychoacoustic indicators of road and rail traffic noise, subjective perception and psychological and physiological parameters

Classic research about the effects of noise exposure on non-auditory health effects has been carried out with established sound indicators like Lden or Lnight – using the A-weighting. The relation between psychoacoustic indicators and objective health parameters is less well investigated also in soundscape studies.
The two main objectives of the project “INTRANOISE” are to study the effect of road and rail traffic sound on human sleep patterns and explore the relationship between the subjective perception of 100 test persons and objectively measured psychoacoustic and physiological parameters. The crucial point is, that all measurements are done in the free field during real-life situations.
A standardized method for objective acoustic measurements in residential environments of test persons was developed based on past experiences. The total quantity and quality of a test person’s acoustic exposure is assessed by a time-synchronized comparison between the results of a traffic-noise-annoyance-questionnaire and psychoacoustic parameters.
The study concept and results of 82 participants will be shown. Results indicate that outdoor traffic noise is a significant factor for indoor subjective noise ratings of people and they are able to clearly distinguish between different noise sources. Indoor noise is the dominant factor for physiological reactions during sleep.