title: Analysis of Sampling Methodologies for Noise Pollution Assessment and the Impact on the Population.
abstract: Today, noise pollution is an increasing environmental stressor. Noise maps are recognised as the main tool for assessing and managing environmental noise, but their accuracy largely depends on the sampling method used. The sampling methods most commonly used by different researchers (grid, legislative road types and categorisation methods) were analysed and compared using the city of Talca (Chile) as a test case. The results show that the stratification of sound values in road categories has a significantly lower prediction error and a higher capacity for discrimination and prediction than in the legislative road types used by the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications in Chile. Also, the use of one or another method implies significant differences in the assessment of population exposure to noise pollution. Thus, the selection of a suitable method for performing noise maps through measurements is essential to achieve an accurate assessment of the impact of noise pollution on the population.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, 5 Poniente 1670, Talca 3460000, Chile. guille@unex.es.
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rey Gozalo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física Aplicada, Escuela Politécnica, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. de la Universidad s/n, Cáceres 10003, Spain. barrigon@unex.es.
authors.forename: Juan Miguel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Barrigón Morillas
mesh_terms: D002677:Chile; D002947:Cities; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise
keywords: noise annoyance; noise pollution; noise predictive capacity; sampling methods