Requirements for Drone Operations to Minimise Community Noise Impact

Carlos Ramos-Romero, Nathan Green, Seth Roberts, Charlotte Clark and Antonio J. Torija
Additional contact information
Carlos Ramos-Romero: Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford, Manchester M5 4WT, UK
Nathan Green: Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford, Manchester M5 4WT, UK
Seth Roberts: Hayes McKenzie Partnership Ltd., Unit 3 Oakridge Office Park, Salisbury SP5 3HT, UK
Charlotte Clark: Population Health Research Institute, St George’s University of London, London SW17 0RE, UK
Antonio J. Torija: Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford, Manchester M5 4WT, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-16

Abstract: The number of applications for drones under R&D have growth significantly during the last few years; however, the wider adoption of these technologies requires ensuring public trust and acceptance. Noise has been identified as one of the key concerns for public acceptance. Although substantial research has been carried out to better understand the sound source generation mechanisms in drones, important questions remain about the requirements for operational procedures and regulatory frameworks. An important issue is that drones operate within different airspace, closer to communities than conventional aircraft, and that the noise produced is highly tonal and contains a greater proportion of high-frequency broadband noise compared with typical aircraft noise. This is likely to cause concern for exposed communities due to impacts on public health and well-being. This paper presents a modelling framework for setting recommendations for drone operations to minimise community noise impact. The modelling framework is based on specific noise targets, e.g., the guidelines at a receiver position defined by WHO for sleep quality inside a residential property. The main assumption is that the estimation of drone noise exposure indoors is highly relevant for informing operational constraints to minimise noise annoyance and sleep disturbance. This paper illustrates the applicability of the modelling framework with a case study, where maximum A-weighted sound pressure levels L A m a x and sound exposure levels S E L as received in typical indoor environments are used to define drone-façade minimum distance to meet WHO recommendations. The practical and scalable capabilities of this modelling framework make it a useful tool for inferring and assessing the impact of drone noise through compliance with appropriate guideline noise criteria. It is considered that with further refinement, this modelling framework could prove to be a significant tool in assisting with the development of noise metrics, regulations specific to drone operations and the assessment of future drone operations and associated noise.

Keywords: drone noise; community noise impact; noise annoyance; sleep disturbance; noise regulation; noise metrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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