Investigation of metrics for assessing human response to drone noise

Torija Martinez, AJ; Nicholls, RK

Abstract

Novel electric air transportation is emerging as an industry that could help to improve the lives of people living in both metropolitan and rural areas through integration into infrastructure and services. However, as this new resource of accessibility increases in momentum, the need to investigate any potential adverse health impacts on the public becomes paramount. This paper details research investigating the effectiveness of available noise metrics and sound quality metrics (SQMs) for assessing perception of drone noise. A subjective experiment was undertaken to gather
data on human response to a comprehensive set of drone sounds and to investigate the relationship between perceived annoyance, perceived loudness and perceived pitch and key psychoacoustic
factors. Based on statistical analyses, subjective models were obtained for perceived annoyance, loudness and pitch of drone noise. These models provide understanding on key psychoacoustic
features to consider in decision making in order to mitigate the impact of drone noise. For the drone sounds tested in this paper, the main contributors to perceived annoyance are perceived noise level (PNL) and sharpness; for perceived loudness are PNL and fluctuation strength; and for perceived pitch are sharpness, roughness and Aures tonality. Responses for the drone sounds tested were found to be highly sensitive to the distance between drone and receiver, measured in terms of height above
ground level (HAGL). All these findings could inform the optimisation of drone operating conditions in order to mitigate community noise.

Citation

Torija Martinez, A., & Nicholls, R. (2022). Investigation of metrics for assessing human response to drone noise. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3152. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063152

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 3, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 8, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 8, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 8, 2022
• Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Publisher: MDPI
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 3152
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063152
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063152
• Related Public URLs: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
• Additional Information: Projects : Integrated Flight Control Energy Storage and Propulsion Technologies for Electric Aircraft (INCEPTION);DroneNoise: Addressing Public Health and Wellbeing Harms for a Sustainable Drone Sector; Grant Number: 73692; Grant Number: EP/V031848/1