{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T02:00:41Z","timestamp":1772589641899,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,26]],"date-time":"2011-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1306368000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In environmental noise control one commonly employs the A-weighted sound level as an approximate measure of the effect of noise on people. A measure that is more closely related to direct human perception of noise is the loudness level. At constant A-weighted sound level, the loudness level of a noise signal varies considerably with the shape of the frequency spectrum of the noise signal. In particular the bandwidth of the spectrum has a large effect on the loudness level, due to the effect of critical bands in the human hearing system. The low-frequency content of the spectrum also has an effect on the loudness level. In this note the relation between loudness level and A-weighted sound level is analyzed for various environmental noise spectra, including spectra of traffic noise, aircraft noise, and industrial noise. From loudness levels calculated for these environmental noise spectra, diagrams are constructed that show the relation between loudness level, A\u2011weighted sound level, and shape of the spectrum. The diagrams show that the upper limits of the loudness level for broadband environmental noise spectra are about 20 to 40 phon higher than the lower limits for narrowband spectra, which correspond to the loudness levels of pure tones. The diagrams are useful for assessing limitations and potential improvements of environmental noise control methods and policy based on A-weighted sound levels.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph8061847","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,26]],"date-time":"2011-05-26T10:58:16Z","timestamp":1306407496000},"page":"1847-1864","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Practical Ranges of Loudness Levels of Various Types of Environmental Noise, Including Traffic Noise, Aircraft Noise, and Industrial Noise"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Erik M.","family":"Salomons","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Urban Environment, TNO, Van Mourik Broekmanweg 6, 2628 XE Delft, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sabine A.","family":"Janssen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Urban Environment, TNO, Van Mourik Broekmanweg 6, 2628 XE Delft, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) Available online: http:\/\/www.euro.who.int (accessed on 25 May 2011)."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) Available online: http:\/\/www.euro.who.int (accessed on 25 May 2011)."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3432","DOI":"10.1121\/1.423927","article-title":"Exposure-response relationships for transportation noise","volume":"104","author":"Miedema","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1289\/ehp.01109409","article-title":"Annoyance from transportation noise: Relationships with exposure metrics DNL and DENL and their confidence intervals","volume":"109","author":"Miedema","year":"2001","journal-title":"Environ. Health Perspect"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1119","DOI":"10.1121\/1.381212","article-title":"Scaling loudness, noisiness, and annoyance of community noises","volume":"60","author":"Berglund","year":"1976","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.1121\/1.1915637","article-title":"Loudness, its definition, measurement and calculation","volume":"5","author":"Fletcher","year":"1933","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"(1987). ISO 226:1987. Acoustics\u2014Normal Equal-Loudness Level Contours, International Organization for Standardization."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"(2003). ISO 226:2003. Acoustics\u2014Normal Equal-Loudness Level Contours, International Organization for Standardization."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"918","DOI":"10.1121\/1.1763601","article-title":"Equal-loudness-level contours for pure tones","volume":"116","author":"Suzuki","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Leventhall, G (2003). A Review of Published Research on Low Frequency Noise and Its Effects, Defra Publications."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2985","DOI":"10.1121\/1.414863","article-title":"Sources and effects of low-frequency noise","volume":"99","author":"Berglund","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Hodgdon, KK, Atchley, AA, and Bernhard, RJ Available online: http:\/\/www.partner.aero (accessed on 25 May 2011)."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsv.2006.11.010","article-title":"A-weighted sound pressure level as an indicator of short-term loudness or annoyance of road-traffic sound","volume":"302","author":"Nilsson","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Sound Vib"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"491","DOI":"10.1016\/0022-460X(88)90374-4","article-title":"Annoyance due to low frequency noise and the use of the dB(A) scale","volume":"127","author":"Persson","year":"1988","journal-title":"J. Sound Vib"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsv.2003.09.061","article-title":"Evaluations of effects due to low-frequency noise in a low demanding work situation","volume":"278","author":"Bengtsson","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Sound Vib"},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Vos, J (2010, January 13\u201316). Annoyance Caused by Low Frequency Sounds: Spectral and Temporal Effects. Lisbon, Portugal. unpaginated, 8 pp. (on CD). This work is described more extensively in: Vos, J.; Geurtsen, F.W.M.; Houben, M.M.J. Annoyance Caused by Low-Frequency Noise. TNO report TNO-DV 2010 C093, 2010 (in Dutch)."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1177\/026309238700600101","article-title":"Annoyance of audible infrasound","volume":"6","year":"1987","journal-title":"J. Low Freq. Noise Vib"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1260\/0263092001492895","article-title":"Unpleasantness and acceptable limits of low frequency sound","volume":"19","author":"Inukai","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Low Freq. Noise Vib"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"483","DOI":"10.1006\/jsvi.2000.3251","article-title":"The prevalence of annoyance and effects after long-term exposure to low-frequency noise","volume":"240","author":"Rylander","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Sound Vib"},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Hansen, CH (2007). The Effects of Low-Frequency Noise and Vibration on People, Multi-Science."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"209","DOI":"10.1121\/1.390397","article-title":"Growth rate of loudness, annoyance, and noisiness as a function of tone location within the noise spectrum","volume":"75","author":"Hellman","year":"1984","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1121\/1.2932075","article-title":"Implications of human performance and perception under tonal noise conditions on indoor noise criteria","volume":"124","author":"Ryherd","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1382","DOI":"10.1121\/1.3384268","article-title":"The dB[EQL]: An alternative sound pressure weighting according to the equal loudness contours of the international standard ISO 226:2003 (A)","volume":"127","author":"Bray","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"van den Berg, GP (1998, January 16\u201318). Long Range Outdoor Propagation and Interference of Low Frequency Tonal Sound. Christchurch, New Zealand. unpaginated, 4 pp. (on CD)."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"van den Berg, M (2010, January 13\u201316). Low Level Intrusive Noise and Low Frequency Noise. Lisbon, Portugal. unpaginated, 7 pp. (on CD)."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1260\/026309207783571389","article-title":"Indoor measurements of noise at low frequencies\u2014 problems and solutions","volume":"26","author":"Pedersen","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Low Freq. Noise Vib"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.1088\/0508-3443\/7\/5\/302","article-title":"A re-determination of the equal-loudness relations for pure tones","volume":"7","author":"Robinson","year":"1956","journal-title":"Br. J. Appl. Phys"},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"Pierce, AD (1991). Acoustics An Introduction to Its Physical Principles and Applications, American Institute of Physics."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"(1993). ISO 9613-1:1993. Acoustics\u2014Attenuation of Sound during Propagation Outdoors\u2014Part 1: Calculation of the Absorption of Sound by the Atmosphere, International Organization for Standardization."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"(1996). ISO 9613-2:1996. Acoustics\u2014Attenuation of Sound during Propagation Outdoors\u2014Part 2: General Method of Calculation, International Organization for Standardization."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Salomons, EM (2001). Computational Atmospheric Acoustics, Kluwer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-010-0660-6"},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"Buikema, E, Vercammen, M, van der Ploeg, F, Granneman, J, and Vos, J (2010, January 13\u201316). Development of a Rating Procedure for Low Frequency Noise: Results of Measurements Near Runways. Lisbon, Portugal. unpaginated, 9 pp. (on CD)."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Welkers, D (2010, January 13\u201316). Another Kind of Noise: Groundnoise. Lisbon, Portugal. unpaginated, 6 pp. (on CD)."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fastl, H, and Zwicker, E (2006). Psychoacoustics\u2014Facts and Models, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-540-68888-4"},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Fastl, H, Volk, F, and Straubinger, M (2009, January 23\u201326). Standards for Calculating Loudness of Stationary or Time-Varying Sounds. Ottawa, Canada. unpaginated, 6 pp. (on CD)."},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"(2007). ANSI S34-2007 Procedure for the Computation of Loudness of Steady Sounds, American National Standards Institute."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"(1991). DIN 45631:1991. Berechnung des Laust\u00e4rkepegels und der Lautheit aus dem Ger\u00e4uschspektrum. Verfahren nach E. Zwicker, Deutsches Institut f\u00fcr Normung. (in German)."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"(1975). ISO 532B:1975. Acoustics\u2014Method for Calculating Loudness Level\u2014Part 1: Stationary Sounds, International Organization for Standardization."},{"key":"ref_39","first-page":"224","article-title":"A model for the prediction of thresholds, loudness and partial loudness","volume":"45","author":"Moore","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. Audio Eng. Soc"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"585","DOI":"10.1121\/1.2214151","article-title":"Prediction of absolute thresholds and equal-loudness contours using a modified loudness model","volume":"120","author":"Glasberg","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1250\/ast.12.39","article-title":"Program for calculating loudness according to DIN 45631 (ISO 532B)","volume":"12","author":"Zwicker","year":"1991","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (E)"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"575","DOI":"10.1121\/1.1912880","article-title":"Perceived level of noise by Mark VII and decibels (E)","volume":"51","author":"Stevens","year":"1972","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"(1997). DIN 45680:1997. Messung und Bewertung tieffrequenter Ger\u00e4uschimmissionen in der Nachbarschaft, Deutsches Institut f\u00fcr Normung. (in German)."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1291","DOI":"10.1121\/1.1913246","article-title":"Survey of motor vehicle noise","volume":"52","author":"Olson","year":"1972","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"Fahy, F, and Gardonio, P (2007). Sound and Structural Vibration, Academic."},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"Dowling, AP, and Ffowcs Williams, JE (1983). Sound and Sources of Sound, Ellis Horwood."},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"Vermeir, G, Geentjes, G, and Bruyninckx, W (2004, January 22\u201325). Measurement and Calculation Experiences on Fa\u00e7ade Sound Insulation. Prague, Czech Republic."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"Haberl, J, Lengheim, T, Pucher, E, Litzka, J, Bendtsen, H, Watts, G, Parry, A, Anfonsso-L\u00e9d\u00e9e, F, Sandberg, U, and LeLong, J Available online: http:\/\/www.trl.co.uk\/silvia\/Silvia\/pdf\/Main_Outputs\/SILVIA-TUW-052-04-WP5-220305.pdf (accessed on 25 May 2011)."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"307","DOI":"10.1016\/S0003-682X(00)00032-3","article-title":"Sound transmission through single, double and triple glazing. Experimental evaluation","volume":"62","author":"Tadeu","year":"2001","journal-title":"Appl. Acoust"},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"244","DOI":"10.1121\/1.1327576","article-title":"On the annoyance caused by impulse sounds produced by small, medium-large, and large firearms","volume":"109","author":"Vos","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3636","DOI":"10.1121\/1.412410","article-title":"Choice of frequency weighting for the evaluation of weapon choice","volume":"97","author":"Meloni","year":"1995","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"200","DOI":"10.1121\/1.387978","article-title":"Measurement and prediction of annoyance caused by time-varying highway noise","volume":"72","author":"Yaniv","year":"1982","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/8\/6\/1847\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T21:56:12Z","timestamp":1760219772000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/8\/6\/1847"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,26]]},"references-count":52,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,6]]}},"alternative-id":["ijerph8061847"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph8061847","relation":{},"ISSN":["1660-4601"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1660-4601","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2011,5,26]]}}}