Educational App for Traffic Noise Mapping

It is well known that traffic is the dominant source of environmental noise in modern cities. Traffic noise predicting models have been commonly used for developing noise maps using commercial software. From the results obtained in large-scale studies carried out in Santiago of Chile, a simplified traffic noise model was developed for assessing the noise levels produced close to roads. This model has been validated against on-site measurements and it has reported good reliability. The input variables of the model can easily be obtained from the features of traffic flows and roads. Based on this model, a user-friendly software application for Android mobile phones and a website to report the results were both implemented. This app, which was originally conceived for instructive purposes, allows the users to produce a map showing the estimated levels of traffic noise at several points on an interactive GPS map. Thus, the app and the website are a very interesting learning support tool for teaching environmental noise in schools. The app has also been applied successfully in a smaller city (Valdivia, Chile).