Noise measurements around Schiphol improved

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HAARLEMMERMEER – The 41 noise monitoring stations around Schiphol will use a smarter algorithm from this week, 1 February, that links noise to flights more accurately. The algorithm is able to better recognize and distinguish flight noise from background noise from traffic or the weather. This improves the provision of information to local residents and measures to reduce noise pollution can be better evaluated.

The results of a trial with three noise monitoring stations in Nieuw-Vennep, Spaarndam and Castricum show that this new way of measuring noise is successful. Schiphol thus conducted six days of testing in August and September 2021.

Threshold value

Aircraft noise is measured in 41 NOMOS noise monitoring stations located around Schiphol. Each measuring station consists of a microphone that is placed on a mast of 6 to 10 meters. In the previous situation, sound was recorded above a certain volume, a so-called threshold value. In this way, background noises such as passing vehicles or wind did not become part of the sound recordings of air traffic. That recording was analyzed and a flight could be linked to it using radar data and sound forecasts.

Measured sound

The new, smart algorithm works the other way around. It contains flight path information and actively associates it with recordings below the flight path to determine the sound regardless of volume. Because the measured noise is linked to the flight path, this method is less sensitive to weather conditions and ambient noise. The measured aircraft noise can also be better compared with the expected noise. The results show that this new way makes it easier to link a flight to a specific noise measurement. This enables NOMOS to register more aircraft passages.

Airplane noise

From 1 February, all noise measurements with NOMOS will be performed with smarter aircraft noise detection. Local residents and other interested parties can view the data via NOMOS online. Go to NOMOS online.