Soundscape in North-Eastern Part of Iasi City (Sararie - Ticau District)

Abstract

This paper presents a complex study of noise levels from road traffic source and the variation during the seasons in an old residential area located in the north-eastern part of Iasi city, an important educational and cultural centre of the country. The study reveal the correlation between noise levels and social activities developed in the area: low number of inhabitants because of the holidays time in August and the resumption of the educational activity in autumn, including school start in September and of the university activity in October. After direct observations, the measurements were made with digital sound –level meter Quest Technologies, 1400 model in five hour intervals 7:00 - 8:00; 10:00 - 11:00; 13:30 - 14:30; 18:00 - 19:00; 19:00 - 20:00. The monitoring of Equivalent Continuous Noise Level (Leq) were made in 30 points located along the different type of roads in the second part of August – October 2009, with different admissible levels, showing the exceeding of the limit in 5 points in September and 8 points in October. It can be observed an important difference during the week in the monitoring period, between Monday to Friday and the week-end with lower values 59.64 - 6.5 dB (A) in August, 61.98 - 5.14 dB (A) in September, 63.9 - 5.3 dB (A) in October and among the four street categories with major differences between first category: 66.89 dB (A) and fourth category 47.69 dB (A), so that urban noise can be stratified according to a prior classification of a town’s streets due to their use and functional characteristics. Sound levels monitoring and statistical data processing (Pearson correlation coefficient, Tukey range test) sustain the fact that road traffic is main source of noise in the area, differentiated in correlation with street category, a decrease in noise with increasing street category, with insignificant differences between first and second street category thank to the best management and traffic control.