The Effects of Vision-Related Aspects on Noise Perception of Wind Turbines in Quiet Areas

Luigi Maffei, Tina Iachini, Massimiliano Masullo, Francesco Aletta, Francesco Sorrentino, Vincenzo Paolo Senese and Francesco Ruotolo
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Luigi Maffei: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design "L.Vanvitelli", Second University of Naples, Via San Lorenzo ad Septimum, Aversa 81031, Italy
Tina Iachini: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico 31, Caserta 81100, Italy
Massimiliano Masullo: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design "L.Vanvitelli", Second University of Naples, Via San Lorenzo ad Septimum, Aversa 81031, Italy
Francesco Aletta: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design "L.Vanvitelli", Second University of Naples, Via San Lorenzo ad Septimum, Aversa 81031, Italy
Francesco Sorrentino: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design "L.Vanvitelli", Second University of Naples, Via San Lorenzo ad Septimum, Aversa 81031, Italy
Vincenzo Paolo Senese: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico 31, Caserta 81100, Italy
Francesco Ruotolo: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico 31, Caserta 81100, Italy

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Preserving the soundscape and geographic extension of quiet areas is a great challenge against the wide-spreading of environmental noise. The E.U. Environmental Noise Directive underlines the need to preserve quiet areas as a new aim for the management of noise in European countries. At the same time, due to their low population density, rural areas characterized by suitable wind are considered appropriate locations for installing wind farms. However, despite the fact that wind farms are represented as environmentally friendly projects, these plants are often viewed as visual and audible intruders, that spoil the landscape and generate noise. Even though the correlations are still unclear, it is obvious that visual impacts of wind farms could increase due to their size and coherence with respect to the rural/quiet environment. In this paper, by using the Immersive Virtual Reality technique, some visual and acoustical aspects of the impact of a wind farm on a sample of subjects were assessed and analyzed. The subjects were immersed in a virtual scenario that represented a situation of a typical rural outdoor scenario that they experienced at different distances from the wind turbines. The influence of the number and the colour of wind turbines on global, visual and auditory judgment were investigated. The main results showed that, regarding the number of wind turbines, the visual component has a weak effect on individual reactions, while the colour influences both visual and auditory individual reactions, although in a different way.

Keywords: wind turbine noise; virtual reality; quiet areas; visual influence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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