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Dr. Gaetano Licitra
Environmental Protectiona Agency of Tuscany Region

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0 Action Planning
0 Noise Control
0 Radiation Protection
0 noise exposure
0 Noise mapping

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Journal article
Published: 22 July 2021 in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
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In this work, a protocol to study Tyre Cavity Noise (TCN) was developed. Using this new method, TCN was measured on 24 different road pavements, together tyre noise emission measured with the Close-Proximity (CPX) method and road texture measurements. The results were used to model the relationship between TCN and road surface parameters. The analysis shows that the Standard Reference Test Tyre’s (SRTT) TCN is correlated to megatexture at low frequencies and that the correlation between TCN and outside noise emission is significant for frequencies lower than 1 kHz. The use of sensors placed inside the tyre for monitoring the acoustic performance of road pavements presents several advantages compared to the CPX method, such as a more compact design, lower cost and lower hazards both for the instrumentation and for other vehicles.

ACS Style

Lara Ginevra Del Pizzo; Francesco Bianco; Antonino Moro; Gloria Schiaffino; Gaetano Licitra. Relationship between tyre cavity noise and road surface characteristics on low-noise pavements. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 2021, 98, 102971 .

AMA Style

Lara Ginevra Del Pizzo, Francesco Bianco, Antonino Moro, Gloria Schiaffino, Gaetano Licitra. Relationship between tyre cavity noise and road surface characteristics on low-noise pavements. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. 2021; 98 ():102971.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lara Ginevra Del Pizzo; Francesco Bianco; Antonino Moro; Gloria Schiaffino; Gaetano Licitra. 2021. "Relationship between tyre cavity noise and road surface characteristics on low-noise pavements." Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 98, no. : 102971.

Journal article
Published: 09 February 2021 in Environments
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Maritime transportation is recognized to have advantages in terms of environmental impact compared to other forms of transportation. However, an increment in traffic volumes will also produce an increase in noise emissions in the surroundings for a greener source, as ports are frequently surrounded by urban areas. When more sources or higher noise emissions are introduced, the noise exposure of citizens increases, and the likelihood of official complaints rises. As a consequence, among the most demanding aspects of port management is effective noise management aimed at a reduction in the exposure of citizens while ensuring the growth of maritime traffic. At the same time, the topic has not been thoroughly studied by the scientific community, mostly because port areas are challenging from a noise management point of view; they are often characterized by a high degree of complexity, both in terms of the number of different noise sources and their interaction with the other main transportation infrastructure. Therefore, an effective methodology of noise modeling of the port area is currently missing. With regard to the INTERREG Maritime Program, the present paper reports a first attempt to define noise mapping guidelines. On the basis of the current state-of-the-art and the authors’ experiences, noise sources inside port areas can be divided into several different categories: road sources, railway sources, ship sources, port sources, and industrial sources. A further subdivision can be achieved according to the working operation mode and position of the sources. This classification simplifies actions of identification of the responsible source from control bodies, in the case that noise limits are exceeded or citizen complaints arise. It also represents a necessary tool to identify the best placing of medium/long-term noise monitoring stations. The results also act as a base for a future definition of specific and targeted procedures for the acoustic characterization of port noise sources.

ACS Style

Luca Fredianelli; Matteo Bolognese; Francesco Fidecaro; Gaetano Licitra. Classification of Noise Sources for Port Area Noise Mapping. Environments 2021, 8, 12 .

AMA Style

Luca Fredianelli, Matteo Bolognese, Francesco Fidecaro, Gaetano Licitra. Classification of Noise Sources for Port Area Noise Mapping. Environments. 2021; 8 (2):12.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Fredianelli; Matteo Bolognese; Francesco Fidecaro; Gaetano Licitra. 2021. "Classification of Noise Sources for Port Area Noise Mapping." Environments 8, no. 2: 12.

Journal article
Published: 21 October 2020 in Sustainability
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Only recently has noise been considered in the assessment of the sustainability of port infrastructures, after decades of unawareness. INTERREG Maritime projects unveiled problems that have been neglected so far, such as the lack of proper regulation and noise exposure assessments for citizens. While it is true that a port area includes a huge variety of possible noise sources, very few of them have been characterized from an acoustical point of view. INTERREG projects have boosted research in the field, and previous studies have dealt with noise produced by moving ships in ports. The present work starts from a previous measurement campaign used to obtain broadband and 1/3-octave-band noise emissions of moving ships, and it aims to explain their uncertainties. More than a month’s worth of continuous acoustic measurements and video recordings were deeply analyzed in order to obtain an input database that is as precise as possible. A multiple regression analysis was performed in order to understand the influence that parameters such as minimum distance, speed, and draught have on ships’ noise emissions, which were calculated using pass-by measurements, with a special focus on ferries. The minimum distance of each ship’s passage from the microphone was measured using a video recording with an innovative methodology, providing results with 3 m of uncertainty. Knowing which parameter is more influential would help in planning proper measurements for monitoring or for drafting correct guidelines. Draught was determined to be uninfluential in ferries’ noise emissions, while the minimum distance and speed relations were estimated and accounted for in the calculation of a refined sound power level. From a spectrum point of view, the frequencies from 500 Hz to 2.5 kHz were determined to be those that contributed the most to the noise produced by the transit of a ship, and they vary with speed. With the studied corrections, different ferry models resulted in similar noise emissions. The standard deviation of noise emitted was reduced by 0.5 dB (A), and the average was also improved by positioning the ships’ flow at the correct average minimum distance. Furthermore, the right placement of a source is also important in the acoustic mapping phase for a correct evaluation of the propagation of noise at a distance. The use of more precise input data is important for improving the output of acoustic propagation models during the assessment of port noise in the surrounding areas.

ACS Style

Marco Nastasi; Luca Fredianelli; Marco Bernardini; Luca Teti; Francesco Fidecaro; Gaetano Licitra. Parameters Affecting Noise Emitted by Ships Moving in Port Areas. Sustainability 2020, 12, 8742 .

AMA Style

Marco Nastasi, Luca Fredianelli, Marco Bernardini, Luca Teti, Francesco Fidecaro, Gaetano Licitra. Parameters Affecting Noise Emitted by Ships Moving in Port Areas. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (20):8742.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Nastasi; Luca Fredianelli; Marco Bernardini; Luca Teti; Francesco Fidecaro; Gaetano Licitra. 2020. "Parameters Affecting Noise Emitted by Ships Moving in Port Areas." Sustainability 12, no. 20: 8742.

Journal article
Published: 15 June 2020 in Environments
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Physical agents (noise, vibration, ionizing, and non-ionizing radiation) are playing an increasing role in environmental protection and health

ACS Style

Gaetano Licitra; Mauro Magnoni; Giovanni D’Amore. Preface to “Physical Agents: Measurement Methods, Modelling and Mitigations”. Environments 2020, 7, 1 .

AMA Style

Gaetano Licitra, Mauro Magnoni, Giovanni D’Amore. Preface to “Physical Agents: Measurement Methods, Modelling and Mitigations”. Environments. 2020; 7 (6):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gaetano Licitra; Mauro Magnoni; Giovanni D’Amore. 2020. "Preface to “Physical Agents: Measurement Methods, Modelling and Mitigations”." Environments 7, no. 6: 1.

Communication
Published: 12 June 2020 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Many countries around the world have chosen lockdown and restrictions on people’s mobility as the main strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. These actions have significantly affected environmental noise and modified urban soundscapes, opening up an unprecedented opportunity for research in the field. In order to enable these investigations to be carried out in a more harmonized and consistent manner, this paper makes a proposal for a set of indicators that will enable to address the challenge from a number of different approaches. It proposes a minimum set of basic energetic indicators, and the taxonomy that will allow their communication and reporting. In addition, an extended set of descriptors is outlined which better enables the application of more novel approaches to the evaluation of the effect of this new soundscape on people’s subjective perception.

ACS Style

César Asensio; Pierre Aumond; Arnaud Can; Luis Gascó; Peter Lercher; Jean-Marc Wunderli; Catherine Lavandier; Guillermo De Arcas; Carlos Ribeiro; Patricio Muñoz; Gaetano Licitra. A Taxonomy Proposal for the Assessment of the Changes in Soundscape Resulting from the COVID-19 Lockdown. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 4205 .

AMA Style

César Asensio, Pierre Aumond, Arnaud Can, Luis Gascó, Peter Lercher, Jean-Marc Wunderli, Catherine Lavandier, Guillermo De Arcas, Carlos Ribeiro, Patricio Muñoz, Gaetano Licitra. A Taxonomy Proposal for the Assessment of the Changes in Soundscape Resulting from the COVID-19 Lockdown. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (12):4205.

Chicago/Turabian Style

César Asensio; Pierre Aumond; Arnaud Can; Luis Gascó; Peter Lercher; Jean-Marc Wunderli; Catherine Lavandier; Guillermo De Arcas; Carlos Ribeiro; Patricio Muñoz; Gaetano Licitra. 2020. "A Taxonomy Proposal for the Assessment of the Changes in Soundscape Resulting from the COVID-19 Lockdown." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 12: 4205.

Articles
Published: 05 March 2020 in Road Materials and Pavement Design
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Road traffic noise is the most common source of environmental pollution in urban areas, and therefore, the study of noise mitigation actions is fundamental for urban planning. The use of low noise road surfaces is one of the most widespread intervention since it acts directly on the source of road traffic noise, represented by tyre/road interaction. In this work, the interaction between texture and tyre/road noise was studied from an experimental point of view, by comparing CPX and road texture measurements on rubberised and standard road surfaces. Tyre deformation was addressed by taking into account the indenter method proposed by Sandberg and Goubert in 2018. Regressions of CPX and enveloped road texture levels were performed separating rubberised from reference surfaces, and parallelism tests were performed on the slopes. Results show that the use of rubber influences the interaction of road texture and noise, especially at high frequencies.

ACS Style

Gonzalo De León; Alessandro Del Pizzo; Luca Teti; Antonino Moro; Francesco Bianco; Luca Fredianelli; Gaetano Licitra. Evaluation of tyre/road noise and texture interaction on rubberised and conventional pavements using CPX and profiling measurements. Road Materials and Pavement Design 2020, 21, S91 -S102.

AMA Style

Gonzalo De León, Alessandro Del Pizzo, Luca Teti, Antonino Moro, Francesco Bianco, Luca Fredianelli, Gaetano Licitra. Evaluation of tyre/road noise and texture interaction on rubberised and conventional pavements using CPX and profiling measurements. Road Materials and Pavement Design. 2020; 21 (sup1):S91-S102.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gonzalo De León; Alessandro Del Pizzo; Luca Teti; Antonino Moro; Francesco Bianco; Luca Fredianelli; Gaetano Licitra. 2020. "Evaluation of tyre/road noise and texture interaction on rubberised and conventional pavements using CPX and profiling measurements." Road Materials and Pavement Design 21, no. sup1: S91-S102.

Journal article
Published: 03 March 2020 in Construction and Building Materials
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Road traffic in urban contexts produces noise mainly by the interaction of tyres with pavement surface and, therefore, the use of low-noise surfaces represents the best solution since they aim to mitigate the source. Moreover, in urban contexts it is often the only viable solution, together with a careful traffic planning. The main challenge in their adoption as noise mitigation actions is to be able to forecast the acoustical performances that the new road surface will be able to offer. In the UE, the new Green Public Procurement requires experimental verification of noise performance compliance: the designer must declare the acoustical performance of the proposed low-noise pavement and, a few months after the laying, the actual performance of the road surface must be tested using the Close Proximity Method (CPX). Due to the importance of being able to forecast CPX levels, the present work reports a novel way to model CPX broadband levels of newly laid low-noise road surfaces using only data available to the designer before the laying or easily obtained through coring tests, such as grading curve, fractal dimension, asphalt binder content, air voids, voids in mineral aggregates. Two models were elaborated, using two different frequency separations for tyre/road noise. The first model separates low and high frequency contributions, while the second one also considers noise around 1 kHz separately, using a three-band model. Both models are capable of forecasting the acoustic performance of newly laid low-noise road surfaces, using different road mixture parameters at different frequency ranges. The three band model shows a lower RMSE.

ACS Style

Luca Teti; Gonzalo de León; Alessandro Del Pizzo; Antonino Moro; Francesco Bianco; Luca Fredianelli; Gaetano Licitra. Modelling the acoustic performance of newly laid low-noise pavements. Construction and Building Materials 2020, 247, 118509 .

AMA Style

Luca Teti, Gonzalo de León, Alessandro Del Pizzo, Antonino Moro, Francesco Bianco, Luca Fredianelli, Gaetano Licitra. Modelling the acoustic performance of newly laid low-noise pavements. Construction and Building Materials. 2020; 247 ():118509.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Teti; Gonzalo de León; Alessandro Del Pizzo; Antonino Moro; Francesco Bianco; Luca Fredianelli; Gaetano Licitra. 2020. "Modelling the acoustic performance of newly laid low-noise pavements." Construction and Building Materials 247, no. : 118509.

Journal article
Published: 26 February 2020 in Sustainability
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In the light of sustainability, satisfactory living conditions is an important factor for people’s positive feedback in their own living environment. Acoustic comfort and noise exposure should then be carefully monitored in all human settlements. Furthermore, it is already well-known that high or prolonged noise levels may lead to unwanted health effects. Unfortunately, while in the last decades scientists and public authorities have investigated the noise produced by roads, trains, and airports, not enough efforts have been spent in studying what happens around the coastal and port areas. Following the attention brought to the subject by recent European projects on noise in port areas, the present paper characterizes the sound power level and 1/3 octave band sound power spectrum of seagoing ships while moving at low speeds. Five different categories have been distinguished: Roll-on/roll-off (RORO), container ship, oil tanker, chemical tanker, and ferry. The analysis is based on a continuous noise measurement lasting more than three months, performed in the industrial canal of the port of Livorno (Italy). The resulting noise emissions are new and useful data that could be inserted in acoustic propagation models to properly assess the noise in the areas affected by port activities. Thus, the present work can act as a supporting tool in planning ship traffic in ports towards better sustainability.

ACS Style

Luca Fredianelli; Marco Nastasi; Marco Bernardini; Francesco Fidecaro; Gaetano Licitra. Pass-by Characterization of Noise Emitted by Different Categories of Seagoing Ships in Ports. Sustainability 2020, 12, 1740 .

AMA Style

Luca Fredianelli, Marco Nastasi, Marco Bernardini, Francesco Fidecaro, Gaetano Licitra. Pass-by Characterization of Noise Emitted by Different Categories of Seagoing Ships in Ports. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (5):1740.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Fredianelli; Marco Nastasi; Marco Bernardini; Francesco Fidecaro; Gaetano Licitra. 2020. "Pass-by Characterization of Noise Emitted by Different Categories of Seagoing Ships in Ports." Sustainability 12, no. 5: 1740.

Journal article
Published: 25 February 2020 in Sensors
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The knowledge of the acoustic impedance of a material allows for the calculation of its acoustic absorption. Impedance can also be linked to structural and physical proprieties of materials. However, while the impedance of pavement samples in laboratory conditions can usually be measured with high accuracy using devices such as the impedance tube, complete in-situ evaluation results are less accurate than the laboratory results and is so time consuming that a full scale implementation of in-situ evaluations is practically impossible. Such a system could provide information on the homogeneity and the correct laying of an installation, which is proven to be directly linked to its acoustic emission properties. The present work studies the development of a measurement instrument which can be fastened through holding elements to a moving laboratory (i.e., a vehicle). This device overcomes the issues that afflict traditional in-situ measurements, such as the impossibility to perform a continuous spatial characterization of a given pavement in order to yield a direct evaluation of the surface’s quality. The instrumentation has been uncoupled from the vehicle’s frame with a system including a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller, studied to maintain the system at a fixed distance from the ground and to reduce damping. The stabilization of this device and the measurement system itself are evaluated and compared to the traditional one.

ACS Style

Francesco Bianco; Luca Fredianelli; Fabio Lo Castro; Paolo Gagliardi; Francesco Fidecaro; Gaetano Licitra. Stabilization of a p-u Sensor Mounted on a Vehicle for Measuring the Acoustic Impedance of Road Surfaces. Sensors 2020, 20, 1239 .

AMA Style

Francesco Bianco, Luca Fredianelli, Fabio Lo Castro, Paolo Gagliardi, Francesco Fidecaro, Gaetano Licitra. Stabilization of a p-u Sensor Mounted on a Vehicle for Measuring the Acoustic Impedance of Road Surfaces. Sensors. 2020; 20 (5):1239.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Francesco Bianco; Luca Fredianelli; Fabio Lo Castro; Paolo Gagliardi; Francesco Fidecaro; Gaetano Licitra. 2020. "Stabilization of a p-u Sensor Mounted on a Vehicle for Measuring the Acoustic Impedance of Road Surfaces." Sensors 20, no. 5: 1239.

Journal article
Published: 24 February 2020 in Environments
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Compared to the other relevant noise sources such as railways, roads, and airplanes, the regulation regarding port noise is lagging behind. The absence of specific laws is likely one of the main causes of the increasingly high number of complaints reported by the citizens living nearby the ports. At the same time, scientific literature concerning the impact of port noise and its mitigation is not so widespread and only a few studies are available at the moment. However, the volume of maritime traffic has increased in the last years and consequently, Port Authorities are required to assess the impact of port operations on the city soundscape without using specific directives or guidelines. In this context, the INTERREG Maritime programme projects RUMBLE, MON ACUMEN, and REPORT aim to fill this gap, by investigating the state-of-the-art of port noise in the north Tyrrhenian sea and developing helpful instruments. Data were collected via a survey sent to the Port Authorities, local environmental protection agencies and universities involved in the projects. The survey was focused on monitoring systems, previous measurement campaigns, noise maps, and citizens’ complaints already taken. The results confirmed both a lack of awareness among residents and authorities and the absence of actions aimed at reducing port noise. In this framework, the difficulties encountered by the Port Authorities in managing the ports sustainably are highlighted. An underestimation of citizens’ exposure to noise in port areas could be expected.

ACS Style

Matteo Bolognese; Francesco Fidecaro; Diego Palazzuoli; Gaetano Licitra. Port Noise and Complaints in the North Tyrrhenian Sea and Framework for Remediation. Environments 2020, 7, 17 .

AMA Style

Matteo Bolognese, Francesco Fidecaro, Diego Palazzuoli, Gaetano Licitra. Port Noise and Complaints in the North Tyrrhenian Sea and Framework for Remediation. Environments. 2020; 7 (2):17.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Matteo Bolognese; Francesco Fidecaro; Diego Palazzuoli; Gaetano Licitra. 2020. "Port Noise and Complaints in the North Tyrrhenian Sea and Framework for Remediation." Environments 7, no. 2: 17.

Review
Published: 15 November 2019 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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In the vast majority of legislation on environmental noise, the metric used for expressing limit values is based on sound pressure levels. But some countries have introduced sound emergence limit values where the compliance of a noise-generating activity is defined as a maximum allowable difference between the sound pressure level with and without the regulated activity operating. This paper investigates the foundations and the merits of this kind of differential noise limit values. Our review of literature indicates that there is very little evidence supporting the use of differential noise limits over absolute ones. Moreover, while sound emergence limits seem to originate from consideration about audibility of the regulated noise source, they appear to give little insight into what is audible and what is not. Furthermore, both the definition and the practical measurement of sound emergence raise several challenges that compromise reproducibility. In addition, first, the reference to background noise makes it very difficult first to ascertain the conformity of noisy installations in the long run, second to effectively protect the community from excessive noise and third to evaluate conformity on the basis of simulations. When switching to another metric is not an option the paper makes recommendations toward a more reliable use of sound emergence.

ACS Style

Guillaume Dutilleux; Truls Gjestland; Gaetano Licitra. Challenges of the Use of Sound Emergence for Setting Legal Noise Limits. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019, 16, 4517 .

AMA Style

Guillaume Dutilleux, Truls Gjestland, Gaetano Licitra. Challenges of the Use of Sound Emergence for Setting Legal Noise Limits. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16 (22):4517.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Guillaume Dutilleux; Truls Gjestland; Gaetano Licitra. 2019. "Challenges of the Use of Sound Emergence for Setting Legal Noise Limits." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 22: 4517.

Editorial
Published: 06 November 2019 in Environments
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The increasing attention of the public towards the effects of noise pollution on health pushed the EU to issue the Environmental Noise 49/2002/CE Directive

ACS Style

Gaetano Licitra; Konstantinos Vogiatzis. Preface: New Solutions Mitigating Environmental Noise Pollution. Environments 2019, 6, 117 .

AMA Style

Gaetano Licitra, Konstantinos Vogiatzis. Preface: New Solutions Mitigating Environmental Noise Pollution. Environments. 2019; 6 (11):117.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gaetano Licitra; Konstantinos Vogiatzis. 2019. "Preface: New Solutions Mitigating Environmental Noise Pollution." Environments 6, no. 11: 117.

Journal article
Published: 05 March 2019 in Environments
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After the European Environmental Noise Directive prescribed noise maps and action plans, wide scientific literature and a consistent number of mitigation strategies emerged for road, railway, airport, and industrial noise. Unfortunately, very little attention has been paid to the noise produced by ports in their surroundings, even though there could be many areas affected by it. At present, more attention seems to be paid to noise produced underwater, mostly for military and security reasons and for its interference with wildlife, rather than airborne noise and its influence on human health. In the framework of a project aiming to shed more light on a topic so far under-investigated, this paper presents an acoustical characterization of different small vessels at various speeds that move around on a daily basis in every type of port, produced by means of short- and long-term measurements. The new information acquired was used to produce a map of noise generated by vessels moving in Livorno’s canals, which branch off in a densely inhabited area. The simulations were validated using long-term measurement. The number of citizens exposed was also estimated and used to calculate the number of highly annoyed people according to the recent curve for road traffic noise proposed by Guski et al. In order to prevent citizen exposure to noise and possible complaints about small boats, different scenarios and possible future situations such as various vessel speeds, limited flow, restricted areas for some categories, or new residential areas were studied.

ACS Style

Marco Bernardini; Luca Fredianelli; Francesco Fidecaro; Paolo Gagliardi; Marco Nastasi; Gaetano Licitra. Noise Assessment of Small Vessels for Action Planning in Canal Cities. Environments 2019, 6, 31 .

AMA Style

Marco Bernardini, Luca Fredianelli, Francesco Fidecaro, Paolo Gagliardi, Marco Nastasi, Gaetano Licitra. Noise Assessment of Small Vessels for Action Planning in Canal Cities. Environments. 2019; 6 (3):31.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Bernardini; Luca Fredianelli; Francesco Fidecaro; Paolo Gagliardi; Marco Nastasi; Gaetano Licitra. 2019. "Noise Assessment of Small Vessels for Action Planning in Canal Cities." Environments 6, no. 3: 31.

Review
Published: 30 January 2019 in Environments
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Noise barriers are the most widespread solution to mitigate noise produced by the continuous growth of vehicular traffic, thus reducing the large number of people exposed to it and avoiding unpleasant effects on health. However, conventional noise barriers present the well-known issues related to the diffraction at the edges which reduces the net insertion loss, to the reflection of sound energy in the opposite direction, and to the complaints of citizens due to the reduction of field of view, natural light, and air flow. In order to avoid these shortcomings and maximize noise abatement, recent research has moved toward the development of sonic crystals as noise barriers. A previous review found in the literature was focused on the theoretical aspects of the propagation of sound through crystals. The present work on the other hand reviews the latest studies concerning the practical application of sonic crystal as noise barriers, especially for road traffic noise mitigation. The paper explores and compares the latest developments reported in the scientific literature, focused on integrating Bragg’s law properties with other mitigation effects such as hollow scatterers, wooden or recycled materials, or porous coating. These solutions could increase the insertion loss and frequency band gap, while inserting the noise mitigation action in a green and circular economy. The pros and cons of sonic crystal barriers will also be discussed, with the aim of finding the best solution that is actually viable, as well as stimulating future research on the aspects requiring improvement.

ACS Style

Luca Fredianelli; Alessandro Del Pizzo; Gaetano Licitra. Recent Developments in Sonic Crystals as Barriers for Road Traffic Noise Mitigation. Environments 2019, 6, 14 .

AMA Style

Luca Fredianelli, Alessandro Del Pizzo, Gaetano Licitra. Recent Developments in Sonic Crystals as Barriers for Road Traffic Noise Mitigation. Environments. 2019; 6 (2):14.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Fredianelli; Alessandro Del Pizzo; Gaetano Licitra. 2019. "Recent Developments in Sonic Crystals as Barriers for Road Traffic Noise Mitigation." Environments 6, no. 2: 14.

Journal article
Published: 01 December 2018 in Applied Acoustics
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Tyre-road noise is the most important source of traffic noise in the mid-to-high speed range. The use of low noise road surfaces represents an ideal solution to mitigate traffic noise, because it directly affects the source, generating a widespread benefit for all the dwellings near the road and decreasing the number of people annoyed. More knowledge about long-term acoustic performance is required to promote the use of low noise road surfaces as mitigation action. In fact, as for a traditional road surface, the acoustic properties of low noise surfaces worsen over time: only by knowing the initial noise reduction and its time evolution, public administrations can design their application and related maintenance plans. In this work, an innovative approach was used to investigate and model acoustic ageing of some rubberized road surfaces surveyed for several years. This type of quiet pavements represents an efficient road surface technology in terms of traffic noise reduction. A new regression model was applied to estimate the acoustic ageing of the investigated pavements, considering the complex interacting system composed of three main elements: pavement type, traffic loads and climatic conditions.

ACS Style

Gaetano Licitra; Antonino Moro; Luca Teti; Alessandro Del Pizzo; Francesco Bianco. Modelling of acoustic ageing of rubberized pavements. Applied Acoustics 2018, 146, 237 -245.

AMA Style

Gaetano Licitra, Antonino Moro, Luca Teti, Alessandro Del Pizzo, Francesco Bianco. Modelling of acoustic ageing of rubberized pavements. Applied Acoustics. 2018; 146 ():237-245.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gaetano Licitra; Antonino Moro; Luca Teti; Alessandro Del Pizzo; Francesco Bianco. 2018. "Modelling of acoustic ageing of rubberized pavements." Applied Acoustics 146, no. : 237-245.

Journal article
Published: 31 October 2018 in Applied Acoustics
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Nowadays, society has the need for air transportation all around the world. The yearly increase in the number of passengers forces airports to operate to a maximum of their capacity. This leads to an augmentation of the fleet of each airline and consequently to an increase in aircraft noise emissions. Accordingly, procedures for measuring aircraft noise levels have been developed. There are international standards that specify how transport noise (aircraft, traffic and railroad) must be measured. ISO 1996-2 standard has an appendix called Annex B which specifies the reference position of the microphone to undertake the measurement, and simplified correction factors to use in case that the measurement must be located near a reflecting surface (3 dB) or directly over a reflecting surface (6 dB). A façade behaves like a reflecting surface and the correction factor to apply is relevant to the study of noise because with the reflections produced on the outside of a building, people nearby can be affected. Therefore, numerous studies verifying the correction factors of ISO 1996-2 Annex B have been performed on façades, particularly for traffic noise. Most of the findings from these studies demonstrate that features of the source-receiver geometry change the correction factor. However, this correction factor has not been tested yet for aircraft noise whose source-receiver geometry differs from that of traffic noise. This paper intends to test the correction factor for aircraft noise on façade. It also tries to determine which relationship can be found among the noise level at the reference position and features like the façade noise level, source-receiver geometry and flight type.

ACS Style

R. Flores; C. Asensio; P. Gagliardi; G. Licitra. Study of the correction factors for aircraft noise façade measurements. Applied Acoustics 2018, 145, 399 -407.

AMA Style

R. Flores, C. Asensio, P. Gagliardi, G. Licitra. Study of the correction factors for aircraft noise façade measurements. Applied Acoustics. 2018; 145 ():399-407.

Chicago/Turabian Style

R. Flores; C. Asensio; P. Gagliardi; G. Licitra. 2018. "Study of the correction factors for aircraft noise façade measurements." Applied Acoustics 145, no. : 399-407.

Journal article
Published: 08 August 2018 in Science of The Total Environment
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With the increasing installation of wind farms, the attention of citizens towards wind turbine noise (WTN) has grown. Differently from some national legislations, the scientific community has promptly responded, increasing the studies and the social surveys in order to better understand the cause of disturbance and the indicators that relate to it. At first, the paper underlines the importance of low WTN levels for indirect health effects such as sleep disturbance and annoyance. The importance to consider noise annoyance in legislation is also discussed, as WTN is more disturbing than other most common noise sources. Then, conversion curves for equally highly annoyed are introduced considering the annoyance perceived by population in relation with the type of source. Finally, a specific limit value of 43 dB(A) for WTN is derived and suggested, comparable with British and Danish standards.

ACS Style

Luca Fredianelli; Stefano Carpita; Gaetano Licitra. A procedure for deriving wind turbine noise limits by taking into account annoyance. Science of The Total Environment 2018, 648, 728 -736.

AMA Style

Luca Fredianelli, Stefano Carpita, Gaetano Licitra. A procedure for deriving wind turbine noise limits by taking into account annoyance. Science of The Total Environment. 2018; 648 ():728-736.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Fredianelli; Stefano Carpita; Gaetano Licitra. 2018. "A procedure for deriving wind turbine noise limits by taking into account annoyance." Science of The Total Environment 648, no. : 728-736.

Journal article
Published: 01 May 2018 in Applied Acoustics
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Paolo Gagliardi; Luca Teti; Gaetano Licitra. A statistical evaluation on flight operational characteristics affecting aircraft noise during take-off. Applied Acoustics 2018, 134, 8 -15.

AMA Style

Paolo Gagliardi, Luca Teti, Gaetano Licitra. A statistical evaluation on flight operational characteristics affecting aircraft noise during take-off. Applied Acoustics. 2018; 134 ():8-15.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paolo Gagliardi; Luca Teti; Gaetano Licitra. 2018. "A statistical evaluation on flight operational characteristics affecting aircraft noise during take-off." Applied Acoustics 134, no. : 8-15.

Journal article
Published: 26 January 2018 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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The effects of noise on students’ health, well-being, and learning are of growing concern among both the general public and policy-makers in Europe. Several studies have highlighted the consequences of noise on children’s learning and performance at school. This study investigates the relationship between noise judgment in school goers aged 11–18 and noise measurements aimed at evaluating their exposure at school. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to 521 individuals in 28 classrooms in eight schools of four cities in Italy, with different environmental characteristics. Using a Likert-type scale, a selected set of responses related to noise generated an Annoyance Index (AI) score for each student and a classroom median score (MAI). From the noise data acquired, a global noise score (GNS) was assigned to each classroom. A higher AI was found in industrialized areas and among younger students. No significant differences in noise judgment were found by gender. A significant inverse correlation was described between MAI and GNS, thus the better the acoustic quality of the classrooms, the less the perceived noise and annoyance. The results show that noise perception and consequent disturbance are highly correlated with classroom acoustics, and confirm that annoyance represents the most widespread subjective response to noise.

ACS Style

Fabrizio Minichilli; Francesca Gorini; Elena Ascari; Fabrizio Bianchi; Alessio Coi; Luca Fredianelli; Gaetano Licitra; Federica Manzoli; Lorena Mezzasalma; Liliana Cori. Annoyance Judgment and Measurements of Environmental Noise: A Focus on Italian Secondary Schools. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018, 15, 208 .

AMA Style

Fabrizio Minichilli, Francesca Gorini, Elena Ascari, Fabrizio Bianchi, Alessio Coi, Luca Fredianelli, Gaetano Licitra, Federica Manzoli, Lorena Mezzasalma, Liliana Cori. Annoyance Judgment and Measurements of Environmental Noise: A Focus on Italian Secondary Schools. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018; 15 (2):208.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Fabrizio Minichilli; Francesca Gorini; Elena Ascari; Fabrizio Bianchi; Alessio Coi; Luca Fredianelli; Gaetano Licitra; Federica Manzoli; Lorena Mezzasalma; Liliana Cori. 2018. "Annoyance Judgment and Measurements of Environmental Noise: A Focus on Italian Secondary Schools." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15, no. 2: 208.

Journal article
Published: 22 December 2017 in Environments
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During a survey related to acoustic and visual perception of users of urban areas, 614 people have been interviewed in Pisa (Italy). The work aims to identify and quantify the effects of parameters influencing the perception of tranquillity in order to understand the soundscape and to propose a method based on the perception of tranquillity for the detection of quiet areas within urban ones. A linear model that predicts the tranquillity perceived in different environments, based on their visual and acoustic characteristics, is proposed. Users were interviewed by operators inside the areas, using a direct approach of standardized questionnaires and oral questions. Simultaneous noise measurements and soundwalks have been performed, together with visual registrations. The linear model obtained predicts the perceived tranquillity based on the statistical level LA10 (A-weighted noise level exceeded for 10% of the measurement time) the sound sources and visual elements. The perceived tranquillity results negatively correlated to LA10 and to the presence of sound sources or negative visual elements. The presence of beneficial sound sources is positively correlated to the perceived tranquillity. However, the effect of the noise level is regulated by environmental characteristics. Perceived tranquillity is proposed as an indicator to identify quiet areas in the urban environment, according to European Directive 49/2002/EC. The obtained model identifies the areas that would get a higher tranquillity value than a fixed threshold value and therefore would be perceived as quiet. The model can be used as a cost-benefit analysis support tool to identify the best solution between the reduction of noise levels and the regeneration of urban areas, referring to the tranquillity perceived by the users.

ACS Style

Luca Cassina; Luca Fredianelli; Irene Menichini; Claudia Chiari; Gaetano Licitra. Audio-Visual Preferences and Tranquillity Ratings in Urban Areas. Environments 2017, 5, 1 .

AMA Style

Luca Cassina, Luca Fredianelli, Irene Menichini, Claudia Chiari, Gaetano Licitra. Audio-Visual Preferences and Tranquillity Ratings in Urban Areas. Environments. 2017; 5 (1):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Cassina; Luca Fredianelli; Irene Menichini; Claudia Chiari; Gaetano Licitra. 2017. "Audio-Visual Preferences and Tranquillity Ratings in Urban Areas." Environments 5, no. 1: 1.