title: Uncertainty of decibel levels.
abstract: The mean sound exposure level from a source is routinely estimated by the mean of the observed sound exposures from repeated measurements. A formula for the standard uncertainty based on the Guide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) is derived. An alternative formula is derived for the case where the GUM method fails. The formulas are applied on several examples, and compared with a Monte Carlo calculation of the standard uncertainty. The recommended formula can be seen simply as a convenient translation of the uncertainty on an energy scale into the decibel level scale, but with a theoretical foundation.
authors.affiliation: Acoustics Research Centre SINTEF and The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7465 Trondheim, Norway Gunnar.Taraldsen@sintef.no, Truls.Berge@sintef.no, Frode.Haukland@sintef.no.
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Taraldsen
authors.affiliation: Acoustics Research Centre SINTEF and The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7465 Trondheim, Norway Gunnar.Taraldsen@sintef.no, Truls.Berge@sintef.no, Frode.Haukland@sintef.no.
authors.forename: Truls
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Berge
authors.affiliation: Acoustics Research Centre SINTEF and The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7465 Trondheim, Norway Gunnar.Taraldsen@sintef.no, Truls.Berge@sintef.no, Frode.Haukland@sintef.no.
authors.forename: Frode
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haukland
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7465 Trondheim, Norway bo@math.ntnu.no.
authors.forename: Bo Henry
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lindqvist
authors.affiliation: SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, S-501 15 Borås, Sweden Hans.Jonasson@sp.se.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jonasson