Noise monitoring and enforcement in New York City using a remote acoustic sensor network

The urban sound environment can have a profound effect on quality of life as indicated by the large majority of noise related complaints to New York City's 311 information/complaints line. To effectively monitor and understand these spatially and temporally dynamic environments, a process of real-time, long term measurement and analysis is required. This paper discusses the development of a smart, static, low-cost acoustic sensing node for large scale urban noise monitoring. The implementation and testing of its custom digital MEMS microphone sensor unit will be detailed. The network's infrastructure will be summarized, followed by a discussion on the process of node deployment, including the different strategies employed. The paper concludes with a case study of noise analysis of a specific site in New York in collaboration with the city agency tasked with enforcing the noise code.