Setting up light and noise maps to define the contours of a reserve of darkness and silence in Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

Urban sprawl brings cities closer to natural areas, making them cohabit is a significant environmental challenge. Densification can also increase light and noise pollution, negatively affecting human and biodiversity well-being. Grounded on a collaboration between a college and a university, this work combines brightness and noise maps to establish the contours of a reserve of darkness and silence in Sherbrooke's Mont-Bellevue Park (Québec, Canada). The light and sound environments of the city are mapped by the research team using two devices mounted on vehicles or bicycles: a multispectral and multidirectional brightness sensor and a sound level meter. Long-term and fixed-point light and noise measurements were also conducted to develop the mobile measurement protocol. Wind tunnel measurements in an anechoic chamber were finally used to determine the effect of travel speed on measured noise levels, showing that speeds of less than 15 km/h ensure unbiased acoustic measurements using a windscreen. Perspectives include using the Noise Capture application to provide crowdsourced and additional noise levels at fixed measurement points. The open-source Noise Modelling tool will provide us with calculated environmental noise maps to be compared with measured data.