Assessment of low-frequency noise due to wind-turbines in relation to low-frequency background noise

摘要

Assessment of low-frequency noise (LFN) is one of the aspects in the Environmental Impact Assessment for a projected wind farm at the city of Utrecht. In the Netherlands there are no legal noise limits for LFN. There are only several guidelines for the assessment of LFN. In this Environmental Impact Assessment the low-frequency noise at the dwellings due to this projected wind farm is not only calculated but also the low-frequency noise background levels has been measured during 3 months at three locations in the neighborhood of the nearby dwellings. Simultaneous the wind-speed and wind-direction have been measured. This area-specific information (low-frequency background noise at a certain wind speed and direction) has been used for the assessment of the LFN due to the projected wind farm besides a comparison with the Dutch guidelines as well as the Danish legal LFN limits. The aim of measuring the LFN is to investigate the present low-frequency background noise (due to road traffic, industry and shipping) and the possible increase of LFN annoyance due to the projected wind farm. In this paper a comparison is made between the measured background noise and the several low-frequency noise limits and guidelines.