Modeling of human aggregations as noise sources in city noise mapping

Noise mapping of urban areas requires inventory of the various noise source cathegories which contribute to acoustic environment, and their assessment by means of direct measurement and/or simulations. In the case of Venice old town, the absence of road traffic allows other contributions to emerge as relevant in determining overall noise levels: acoustic emission generated by human aggregations is one of these, which we tried to treat just like the classic ones.Unfortunately, neither common EU methods nor appropriate technical standards are available as a guide for modeling these sources. So, in order to evaluate their contribution, an attempt was made to implement ad hoc source models, based on linear and/or areal schemes. Specific acoustic power and spectral data were collected, by means of measures performed in real situations, for incorporation into the acoustic model. In the end, using a suitable noise propagation software, maps of noise levels generated by the specific source were produced.