NOISE LEVEL DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS FOR OUTDOOR APPLICATIONS

In the present investigation, over 270 site measurements of noise levels are carried out in the Hong Kong residential areas. Results show that the noise climate is a good parameter for classifying the characteristics of the noise level time fluctuations. The relationships between percentile levels and the equivalent sound pressure levels are discussed and compared with results obtained from other cities. The log–tanh noise level cumulative distribution function proposed previously by the first author is found to be applicable in the outdoor situations provided that the noise environment is not dominated by limited strong noise events. This suggests the generality of this function for use in the environmental noise study.