Chapter 2 . . .

Noise Criteria in Sri Lanka

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka

Area: Low noise area Medium noise area High noise area Silent area

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka . . .

1) Low noise area An area located within any Pradeshiya sabha area.

2) Medium noise area

An area located within any municipal council or urban council area.

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka . . .

3) High noise area An area located within any export processing zone.

4) Silent area
The area covered by a distance of 100m from the boundary of a courthouse, hospital, public library,

school, zoo, sacred areas and areas apart

recreation or environmental purposes.

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka . . .

Maximum permissible noise levels at boundaries in LAeq,T

Area Day time Low noise 55

LAeq,T Night time 45

Medium noise
High noise Silent zone

63*
70 50

50
60 45

* - Provided that the noise level should not exceed 60 dB (A) inside
existing houses, during day time.

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka . . .

Maximum permissible noise level at boundaries in Leq dB (A) for industrial activities

Area

Leq dB (A)
Day time 6.00a.m. 6.00p.m. Night time 6.00p.m. 6.00a.m.

Rural residential Urban residential Noise sensitive Mixed residential Commercial Industrial

55 60 50 63 65 70

45 50 45 55 55 60

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka . . .

Maximum permissible noise levels at boundaries in Leq dB (A) for construction activities

Area

Leq dB (A)
Day time 6.00a.m - 10.00p.m Night time 10.00p.m 6.00a.m

Industrial/ commercial Residential

75

60

65

50

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka . . .

Standards: There are standards for the rating methods. For example, BS 4142 (1990) for industrial and commercial activities affecting residential areas.

BS 5228 for construction site noise affecting

residential areas.

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka . . .

Eg:- Consider an area with maximum permissible daytime sound level of 65 dB (A)

Factory

L 65 dB (A)

To be in accordance with the noise criteria of Sri

Lanka, along the perimeter (but inside the premises) measured L 65 dB (A).

Noise Criteria In Sri Lanka . . .

Eg2:- The measurement position should be 1m from the front of the house (front of dwelling / faade).

L 65 dB (A)

To find the equivalent level, the reference time 1m

used is 5 min at night time and 60 min during the

day

Chapter 3 Sound Attenuation

Sound Attenuation
Sound attenuation is due to the absorption of sound

energy by the following,

a) ground absorption b) air absorption And also the velocity gradients caused by

meteorological conditions.

Sound Attenuation . . .
a) Attenuation due to ground absorption A ground surface that is acoustically soft (eg: grass land) as opposed to paved areas, attenuate sound propagation. For distances greater than 20m this effect can reduce the sound level. The effect is mainly significant for low propagation heights above ground surfaces.

Sound Attenuation . . .
a) Attenuation due to ground absorption

n1 dB h hm

20m

Sound Attenuation . . .
As a rough guide the following table indicates the extra attenuation due to propagation at various heights over

absorbing ground, assuming that source to be 0.7m

above the ground level.
Mean height of propagation (m) Ground attenuation dB (A)

6 4.5 3

1 2 3

1.5
0.7

4
5

Sound Attenuation . . .
The sound attenuation achieved by shrubs and trees can
only be marginal. For example, at 1000 Hz, the sound reduction per 100m is about 0.8 dB with very leafy undergrowth.

b) Attenuation due to air absorption Sound waves attenuate during propagation in air because the energy is absorbed by the medium. These losses are due to the relaxation process and depend upon the amount of water vapor present (humidity).

Sound Attenuation . . .
If a plane wave whose intensity I0 travels a distance x, the intensity Ix is given by,

Ix = I0 exp(-mx)
;where m is the attenuation constant per meter

When x = 1m,

log (I0/I1) = m log e = 0.434m m = (1/0.434) log (I0/I1)

Sound Attenuation . . .
The attenuation varies with humidity as well as temperature. The attenuation per unit length depends on frequency, f as follows. m = kf2 +
where k = 14.24 x 10-11 and is humidity dependant.

Therefore at low frequencies the attenuation is so little

(since k is small) that it can be neglected (below 1000 Hz).

Sound Attenuation . . .
Typical values are about 3 dB per 100m at 4000 Hz dropping to 0.3 dB per 100m at 1000 Hz. Air attenuation becomes very important for ultrasonic frequencies and is greater than 1dB/m at 100 kHz.

Sound Attenuation . . .
c) Attenuation due to meteorological conditions The velocity gradients caused by air, temperature or

wind have a major influence on the propagation of sound

in the open air i) Effect of wind

Generally the profile of wind speed is faster at

high altitude than close to the earth. The friction between the moving air and the ground results in decreased velocity near ground level

Sound Attenuation . . .
The sound propagation is controlled by the vector summation of wind and the sound velocities. VSW = VSE + VEW Therefore downwind from the source, sound rays are refracted back towards the ground and the received sound level is affected.

Upwind the sound is refracted up and away from the

ground causing acoustic shadows in which the sound level is considerably reduced.

Sound Attenuation . . .
wind speed

acoustic shadow ( I of sound will be very low)

Sound Attenuation . . .
In the upwind direction shadow zones may occur while downwind sound reaches into far distance. ii) Effect of temperature profile when the weather is fine during the day, the air is heated near the earths surface by solar radiation but gets cooler towards the upper sky.

Sound Attenuation . . .
The sound speed at t0C is given by C 331.5 + 0.61t

Thus the speed of sound is greater when the

temperature is higher. According to the above expression the sound rays bend upwards. This causes a symmetrical acoustic shadow in which the level is considerably reduced beyond a certain distance from the source near the ground.

Sound Attenuation . . .
low temp => low speed (c)

acoustic shadow Day time

Sound Attenuation . . .
At night or in cloudy weather the temperature profile takes the form of an inversion. In the case of a higher temperature in the upper air the sound can easily return to earth at quite large distances from the source.

Sound Attenuation . . .
high temp => high speed (c)

Night time

Reference book:
Acoustics and noise control
2nd edition B J Smith, R J Peters and S Owen

Practical schedule
3 Practical 2 - Outdoors 1 Industrial visit Assignments: Three (3) in-class assignments, each carry 10 marks. 3 for performance 7 for assignment