Methodological basis of road acoustic researches

Abstract

Transport is one of the most burdensome negative sources affecting the natural environment. Long-term exposure of the body to exhaust pollution can cause health problems and, in the worst case, even lead to death. In addition to exhaust emissions, traffic noise is another equally important issue. Due to its nature, variability over time or the design diversity of vehicles in the traffic flow, it is a phenomenon difficult to define. Like exhaust pollution, it affects people s health and quality of life. In addition to its direct impact on the human physical system, it can also cause psychosomatic disorders, which is why a detailed analysis of road noise taking into account the real operation of the vehicle is so important. The paper presents the basic concepts related to the problem of traffic noise in the world, determines the sources of noise in vehicles and the methodology of conducting acoustic road tests. At the final stage of the scientific paper, methods of reducing excessive noise levels in large urban agglomerations were also presented, and the effectiveness of using noise barriers on selected parts of the city road network using proprietary acoustic tests was assessed.