Design for a U.S. Field Study on the Effects of Aircraft Noise on Sleep: PARTNER Project 25B Year One Report
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Get this paper ↗ (full text — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)
Summary
This report outlines the design for a U.S. field study on the effects of aircraft noise on sleep, addressing a significant gap in domestic research. The last U.S. field study on this topic occurred in 1996, leaving a 15-year period during which air traffic volume increased and aircraft noise characteristics evolved, while European research continued to advance. Because intercultural differences limit the direct transferability of international data to U.S. airports, the authors sought to propose an "optimal" study design based on current scientific knowledge in noise effects and sleep research. The primary objectives were to ensure comparability with past studies, allow for representative subject samples, and establish precise dose-response relationships between noise metrics and sleep fragmentation. The report analyzes various components of study design, focusing heavily on the trade-offs between methodological sensitivity, specificity, and cost. It evaluates several sleep assessment techniques, including polysomnography (the gold standard but expensive and disruptive), actigraphy (inexpensive but less sensitive to subtle physiological changes), signaled awakenings (specific but insensitive), and questionnaires (subjective and prone to error). The authors argue that no single method is perfect; therefore, the proposed design balances these factors to maximize validity while minimizing expense and invasiveness. Based on this analysis, the report recommends a specific methodology for the field study: the use of actigraphy (with a sample rate higher than 1 per minute) combined with a single-channel electrocardiogram (ECG) and an actigraph event marker for conscious awakenings, supplemented by morning questionnaires. The ECG is highlighted for its ability to inexpensively and unobtrusively measure autonomic activations, such as heart rate increases, which serve as indicators of cortical arousals. This combination allows for the detection of both subtle physiological changes and obvious awakenings. The study design requires at least one airport site with significant nocturnal traffic and one control site without aircraft noise exposure. The significance of this proposed design lies in its efficiency and scientific rigor. By using self-applied sensors, the study can investigate large subject samples and numerous noise events at a low methodological cost, ensuring high generalizability. The inclusion of ECG data provides a unique opportunity to assess vegetative arousals, which are linked to cardiovascular risks, while actigraphy allows for comparison with previous international field studies. This approach aims to generate robust data on how varying degrees of noise exposure affect sleep structure and recuperation in the U.S. population, informing future noise regulations and public health assessments.
Key finding
The recommended optimal study design combines actigraphy, single-channel electrocardiography, and event markers to efficiently measure aircraft noise-induced sleep disturbances in large field samples.
Methodology
theoretical
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | rosap | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 24 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
Topics
Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.
Information type
What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).
- Empirical Findings: physiological data