Environmental noise regulations in the EU require cities to produce strategic noise maps. Via simulations the noise pollution in certain areas is estimated based on the amount of traffic, opening hours of leisure areas, train wagon models, industry radiation, etc. Sometimes these simulations are supplemented with microphones that measure the sound level. Acoustic vector probes based on particle velocity sensors can be used for sound level measurements as well as sound source localization in a wide frequency range. A procedure is used to quickly measure a number of points. Here a new setup is applied that combines an acoustic vector sensor with a GPS sensor and a compass. Measurements have been made in an industrial area in the city of Nijmegen (the Netherlands), which is visualized with Google maps with an overlay of the acoustic information. With the acoustic vector sensor not only the pressure is measured at each particular position, but also the direction of sound sources. Because sound sources are measured at multiple positions the location of the dominant sound source can be determined and the influence of reflections can be minimized.
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