This paper investigates changes in tire/pavement noise caused by variations in the road surface characteristics. This research is based on the analysis of noise and surface characteristics collected from sections with 25 mm thickness thin layer surfacings in the Netherlands. Investigations are first performed on the measured noise levels in 1/3rd octave bands, texture levels and the sound-absorption curves. The one-way analysis of variance is employed to test the changes of noise caused by variations of the pavement surface characteristics. It is found that the significant differences in the noise levels between road surfaces mainly appear at frequencies higher than 1000 Hz, and they are considered to be related to surface layer properties. Multivariate linear regression analysis is performed for describing the relationship between the noise level changes and the variations of surface characteristics. By using the partial least square (PLS) regression, the combined effect of texture and sound absorption coefficients on different spectral bands is displayed. From the regression results, it can be inferred that the sound absorption variations at 1000 and 1250 Hz are important factors influencing noise reduction of thin layer surfacings. The founding provides information for designing the noise reducing thin layer surfacings.
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