The first round of noise mapping exercises, required by the European Noise Directive, are now completed, and have shown a preference towards prediction with modelling software. A possible criticism of this approach expressed by some researchers across Europe, is the lack of measurement validation in the process, which often neglected because of its intrinsic costs. This leads potentially to a reduced confidence in the final data, which is crucial for the success of the resulting action plans. DREAMSys is a measurement system that has been developed to address this problem in the future. This paper describes the development and testing of this MEMS microphone-based measurement system, under both laboratory conditions and outdoors. Results of the laboratory evaluations include key microphone parameters such as free-field frequency response and dynamic range, as well as sensitivity to environmental conditions such as temperature, atmospheric pressure and vibration. Outdoor evaluation then extends these to consider the effect of wind, rain, extreme cold and sunlight. For the first time the potential for MEMS microphones to be used in general measurement applications and for outdoor noise monitoring has been thoroughly evaluated.
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