Published In

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2019

Subjects

Wind power--Research--United States

Abstract

With results from a nationwide survey sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, factors that affect outdoor audibility and noise annoyance of wind turbines were evaluated. Wind turbine and summer daytime median background sound levels were estimated for 1043 respondents. Wind turbine sound level was the most robust predictor of audibility yet only a weak, albeit significant, predictor of noise annoyance. For each 1 dB increase in wind turbine sound level (L1h-max), the odds of hearing a wind turbine on one's property increased by 31% [odds ratio (OR): 1.31; 95% CI (confidence interval): 1.25–1.38] and the odds of moving to the next level of annoyance increased by 9% (OR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.02–1.16). While audibility was overwhelmingly dependent on turbine sound level, noise annoyance was best explained by visual disapproval (OR: 11.0; 95% CI: 4.8–25.4). The final models correctly predict audibility and annoyance level for 80% and 62% of individuals, respectively. The results demonstrate that among community members not receiving personal benefits from wind projects, the Community Tolerance Level of wind turbine noise for the U.S. aligns with the international average, further supporting observations that communities are less tolerant of wind turbine noise than other common environmental noise sources at equivalent A-weighted sound levels.

Description

Copyright (2019) Acoustical Society of America

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America. The following article appeared in (Haac, T. R., Kaliski, K., Landis, M., Hoen, B., Rand, J., Firestone, J., ... & Pohl, J. (2019). Wind turbine audibility and noise annoyance in a national US survey: Individual perception and influencing factors. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 146(2), 1124-1141.) and may be found at (https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5121309)

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5121309

DOI

10.1121/1.5121309

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/29657

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