contributed articles

NOISE IS UNWANTED or harmful sound from
environmental sources, including traffic, construction,
industrial, and social activity. Noise pollution is one
of the topmost quality-of-life concerns for urban
residents in the U.S., with more than 70 million people
nationwide exposed to noise levels beyond the limit the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers
harmful. 12 Such levels have proven effects on health,
including sleep disruption, hypertension, heart disease,
and hearing loss. 5, 11, 12 In addition, there is evidence
of harmful effects on educational performance, with
studies showing noise pollution causing learning and
cognitive impairment in children, resulting in
decreased memory capacity, reading
skills, and test scores. 2, 5

The economic impact of noise is also significant. The World Health Organization estimates that, as of 2012, one million healthy life-years in Western Europe were being lost annually to environmental noise. 11 Other estimates put the external cost of noise-related health issues in the E.U. between 0.3%–0.4% of GDP14 and 0.2% of GDP in Japan. 16 Studies in the U.S. and Europe also demonstrate the relationship between environmental noise and real estate markets, with housing prices falling as much as 2% per decibel (dB) of noise increase. 21, 30 Noise pollution is not merely an annoyance but an important problem with broad societal effects that apply to a significant portion of the population. It is clear that effective noise mitigation is in the public interest, with the promise of health, economic, and quality-of-life benefits.

Mitigation

Noise can be mitigated at the receiver’s end by, say, wearing earplugs or along the transmission path by, say, erecting sound barriers along major roads. These strategies do not, however, reduce noise emissions but instead put the burden of mitigation on the receiver. 12 Alternatively, noise can be mitigated at the source (such as by designing aircraft with quieter engines, acoustically treating night clubs, muffling jackhammers for roadwork, and stopping unnecessary

SONYC:

A System
for Monitoring,
Analyzing, and
Mitigating Urban
Noise Pollution
DOI: 10.1145/3224204

SONYC integrates sensors, machine listening,
data analytics, and citizen science to address
noise pollution in New York City.
BY JUAN P. BELLO, CLAUDIO SILVA, ODED NOV,
R. LUKE DUBOIS, ANISH ARORA, JUSTIN SALAMON,
CHARLES MYDLARZ, AND HARISH DORAISWAMY
key insights

˽ Public exposure to noise is a growing concern in cities, leading to substantial health, educational and economic costs, but noise is ephemeral and invisible, making it dificult for city agencies to monitor it effectively.

˽ An interdisciplinary effort explores new ways to use both fixed and mobile sensors, with output annotated by citizen scientists, for training novel machine-listening models and analyzing spatiotemporal noise patterns.

˽ The resulting fine-grain and aggregate
analytics layers help public agencies
monitor the local environment and
intervene to mitigate noise pollution.