Development of an open-source road traffic noise model for exposure assessment

Gulliver, John; Morley, David; Vienneau, Danielle; Fabbri, Federico; Bell, Margaret; Goodman, Paul S.; Beevers, Sean; Dajnak, David; Kelly, Frank J.; Fecht, Daniela · 2015 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2014.12.022

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Summary

This paper presents the development and validation of TRANEX (TRAffic Noise EXposure), an open-source road traffic noise model designed for large-scale exposure assessment. The authors developed TRANEX to address two primary limitations of proprietary software: the need for consistent treatment of source geometry, traffic data, and receptors with concurrent air pollution modeling in the TRAFFIC project, and the requirement to process noise estimates for millions of address locations across Greater London with limited computing resources. The model is built upon the UK’s Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CoRTN) method but modifies it to integrate with open-source geographic information systems (GIS) and standard European Noise Directive metrics. TRANEX was implemented using R scripts to interface with PostgreSQL (with PostGIS extensions) for spatial calculations and GRASS GIS for viewshed analysis. The model utilizes detailed input data, including traffic flows and speeds from the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI), road networks from the Integrated Transport Network, and building heights from LiDAR surveys. Key modifications to the standard CoRTN method include calculating noise levels at specific receptor points (addresses/postcodes) rather than grid cells, using traffic source points spaced every 10 meters, and applying empirical relationships to convert CoRTN’s $L_{10}$ metrics into $L_{Aeq}$ metrics. The model excludes traffic in tunnels and assumes bituminous impervious road surfaces for all London roads. To evaluate performance, the authors compared TRANEX estimates with measured noise levels in Leicester and Norwich. The model demonstrated high correlations between modeled and measured $L_{Aeq,1hr}$ values, with Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients of 0.95 for Leicester and 0.85 for Norwich. Average model errors were 2.6 dB(A) in Leicester and 3.5 dB(A) in Norwich. While the model tended to slightly over-predict noise levels, it accurately captured spatial contrasts. Using the validated model, the authors assessed road traffic noise exposure for the resident population of London between 2003 and 2010. Results indicated that approximately 1.03 million people (12%) were exposed to daytime noise levels $\ge$ 65 dB(A), and 1.63 million people (19%) were exposed to night-time levels $\ge$ 55 dB(A). Changes in noise exposure between 2003 and 2010 were minimal, with average differences of 0.25 dB for daytime and 0.26 dB for night-time metrics. The study concludes that TRANEX provides a robust, computationally efficient tool for epidemiological studies requiring precise, large-scale noise exposure data.

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• exposure measurement