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Soundscape Indices (SSID)

Providing new perception-oriented indices to complement the existing set of decibel-based metrics, for a better characterization, design and management of urban soundscapes.

soundscape image

24 August 2018

Key Facts

  • Funding Body/Client: European Research Council
  • Project Collaborators: French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks (IFSTTAR), University of Granada, Polytechnic Institute of Turin, University of Roma Tre, University of Zagreb, Noise Abatement Society, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Chongqing University
  • Duration: 2018-2023

The SSID project aims at providing new perception-oriented indices to complement the existing set of decibel-based metrics, for a better characterization, design and management of urban soundscapes.

SSID Overview

Eighty million EU citizens are suffering from excessive environmental noise and billions of euros are being spent on noise control, under the EU Directive on Environmental Noise. Unfortunately, the conventional approach, i.e. reduction of ‘sound level’, simply does not deliver the required improvements in quality of life. The growing field of ‘soundscape studies’ is addressing this gap by considering sound environment as perceived, in context, with an interdisciplinary approach. However, soundscapes are hugely complex and measuring them as a basis for environmental design requires a step change to the discipline. This research aims to achieve a ground-breaking development through the establishment of ‘soundscape indices’ (SSID), adequately reflecting levels of human comfort, the impact of which will be reminiscent of that of the Decibel scale created by Bell Systems a century ago. This will provide the underpinning science for soundscape in the field of built environment, with wider intellectual goals of moving from noise control to soundscape creation. Key objectives, as coherent steps for achieving the main aim, are: (1) To characterise soundscapes, by capturing soundscapes and establishing a comprehensive database, which will be a cornerstone for the proposed analysis and an invaluable resource for scientists for years to come. (2) To determine key factors and their influence on soundscape quality based on the database, by conducting laboratory psychological evaluation, physical/psychoacoustic factors analysis, and more importantly, to research at a physiological/biological level, including the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging. (3) To develop, test and validate the soundscape indices, through analysing the influences by various factors, using a number of inter- & trans-disciplinary approaches. (4) To demonstrate the applicability of the soundscape indices in practice, by establishing frameworks for soundscape prediction, design, and standardisation.

Impact

The outcomes of the SSID project are informing the activities of the working group ISO/TC 43/SC 1/WG 54 about the ISO 12913 standards series on soundscape. The SSID project team was involved in the organization of the UKAN Soundscape Workshop – a one-day workshop on practical applications of the soundscape approach that took place in June 2018 in London and was attended by 120+ participants from academia, industry and public sector.

Publications
TypeTitleAuthorsPublications
Article in JournalTowards an Urban Vibrancy Model: A Soundscape ApproachFrancesco Aletta, Jian Kang
 
International Journal of  Environmental Research and Public Health
 
Article in JournalAssociations between Positive Health-Related Effects and Soundscapes Perceptual Constructs: A Systematic ReviewFrancesco Aletta, Tin Oberman, Jian Kang
 
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
 
Article in JournalAcoustic Design Criteria in Naturally Ventilated Residential Buildings: New Research Perspectives by Applying the Indoor Soundscape ApproachSimone Torresin, Rossano Albatici, Francesco Aletta, Francesco Babich, Tin Oberman, Jian Kang
 
Applied Sciences
 
Article in JournalExploring the compatibility of “Method A” and “Method B” data collection protocols reported in the ISO/TS 12913-2:2018 for urban soundscape via a soundwalk
 
Francesco Aletta, Claudia Guattari, Luca Evangelisti, Francesco Asdrubali, Tin Oberman, Jian Kang
 
Applied Acoustics
 
Article in JournalHistorical Acoustics: Relationships between People and Sound over Time
 
Francesco Aletta, Jian Kang
 
Acoustics
 
Article in JournalPromoting Healthy and Supportive Acoustic Environments: Going beyond the Quietness
 
Francesco Aletta, Jian Kang
 
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
 
Article in JournalThe Impact and Outreach of Soundscape Research
 
Jian Kang, Francesco Aletta
 
Environments
 
Article in JournalThe Psychophysiological Implications of Soundscape: A Systematic Review of Empirical Literature and a Research Agenda
 
Mercede Erfanian, Andrew J. Mitchell, Jian Kang, Francesco Aletta
 
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
 
Article in JournalThe Soundscape Indices (SSID) Protocol: A Method for Urban Soundscape Surveys—Questionnaires with Acoustical and Contextual Information
 
Andrew Mitchell, Tin Oberman, Francesco Aletta, Mercede Erfanian, Magdalena Kachlicka, Matteo Lionello, Jian Kang
 
Applied Sciences
 
Article in JournalSoundscape evaluation: Binaural or monaural?
 
Chunyang Xu, Jian Kang
 
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
 
Article in JournalEffect of a fragrant tree on the perception of traffic noise
 
Meihui Ba, Jian Kang
 
Building and Environment
Article in JournalA model for implementing soundscape maps in smart cities
 
Jian Kang, Francesco Aletta, Efstathios Margaritis, Ming Yang
 
Noise Mapping
 
Article in JournalAssociations between soundscape experience and self-reported wellbeing in open public urban spaces: a field study
 
Francesco Aletta, Tin Oberman, Andrew Mitchell, Mercede Erfanian, Matteo Lionello, Magdalena Kachlicka, Jian Kang
 
The Lancet
Article in JournalExploring associations between soundscape assessment, perceived safety and well-being: a pilot field study in Granary Square, London
 
Francesco Aletta, Luca Molinero, Arianna Astolfi, Sonja Di Blasio, Louena Shtrepi, Tin Oberman, Jian Kang
 
Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics
 
Article in JournalInfluence of distance from traffic sounds on physiological indicators and subjective evaluation
 
Zhongzhe Li, Jian Kang, Meihui Ba
 
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
 
Article in JournalIndoor soundscape assessment: A principal components model of acoustic perception in residential buildings
 
Simone Torresin, Rossano Albatici, Francesco Aletta, Francesco Babich, Tin Oberman, Stefano Siboni, Jian Kang
 
Building and Environment
Article in JournalAssessing the changing urban sound environment during the COVID-19 lockdown period using short-term acoustic measurements
 
Francesco Aletta, Tin Oberman, Andrew Mitchell, Huan Tong, Jian Kang
 
Noise mapping
Article in JournalAcoustics for Supportive and Healthy Buildings: Emerging Themes on Indoor Soundscape Research
 
Simone Torresin, Francesco Aletta, Francesco Babich, Ethan Bourdeau, Jack Harvie-Clark, Jian Kang, Lisa Lavia, Antonella Radicchi, Rossano Albatici
 
Sustainability 
Article in JournalThe future of urban sound environments: Impacting mobility trends and insights for noise assessment and mitigation
 
A. Can, A. L'Hostis, P. Aumond, D. Botteldooren, M.C. Coelho, C. Guarnaccia, J. Kang
 
Applied Acoustics
 
Article in JournalA systematic review of prediction models for the experience of urban soundscapes
 
Matteo Lionello, Francesco Aletta, Jian Kang
 
Applied Acoustics
 
Article in JournalOn the relationship between land use and sound sources in the urban environment
 
Efstathios Margaritis, Jian Kang, Francesco Aletta, Östen Axelsson
 
Journal of Urban Design
 
Article in JournalBuilding performance evaluation: Balancing energy and indoor environmental quality in a UK school building
 
Nishesh Jain, Esfand Burman, Craig Robertson, Samuel Stamp, Clive Shrubsole, Francesco Aletta, Edward Barrett, Tin Oberman, Jian Kang, Peter Raynham, D Mumovic, Mike Davies
 
Building Services Engineering Research and Technology
  
Article in JournalAssessment Methods and Factors Determining Positive Indoor Soundscapes in Residential Buildings: A Systematic Review
 
 Torresin,  Albatici,  Aletta,  Babich,  Kang
 
Sustainability 
Article in JournalPositive health-related effects of perceiving urban soundscapes: a systematic review
 
Francesco Aletta, Tin Oberman, Jian Kang
 
The Lancet
Article in JournalThe influence of vegetation and surrounding traffic noise parameters on the sound environment of urban parks
 
Efstathios Margaritis, Jian Kang, Karlo Filipan, Dick Botteldooren
 
Applied Geography
 
Publication in Conference proceeding/workshopMaking cities smarter with new soundscape indices
 
Andrew Mitchell, Francesco Aletta, Tin Oberman, Mercede Erfanian, Magdalena Kachlicka, Matteo Lionello, Jian Kang
 
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
 
Publication in Conference proceeding/workshopThe spectral structure of acoustic time series can predict the perceptual assessment of urban soundscapes
 
Andrew Mitchell, Jian Kang
 
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
 
Publication in Conference proceeding/workshopOn the Dimension and Scaling Analysis of Soundscape Assessment Tools: a case study about the “Method A” of ISO/TS 12913-2:2018
 
Matteo Lionello, Francesco Aletta, Jian Kang
 
Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics
 
Publication in Conference proceeding/workshopTowards a Soundscape Surround Index
 
Tin Oberman, Kristian Jambrošic, Francesco Aletta, Jian Kang
 
Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics
 
Publication in Conference proceeding/workshopTowards soundscape indices
 
Jian Kang, Francesco Aletta, Tin Oberman, Mercede Erfanian, Magdalena Kachlicka, Matteo Lionello, Andrew Mitchell
 
Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics
 
Publication in Conference proceeding/workshopCorrelations between sound level and loudness, intimacy, reverberation, clarity, spaciousness in sequential spaces
 
Tingting Yang, Jian Kang
 
Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics
 
Publication in Conference proceeding/workshopSimplification of Reflection Orders in Virtual Soundscapes through a Subjective Evaluation
 
Chunyang Xu, Jian Kang
 
Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics
 
 

 

Collaborators
  • French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks (IFSTTAR), France
  • University of Granada, Spain
  • Polytechnic Institute of Turin, Italy
  • University of Roma Tre, Italy
  • University of Zagreb, Croatia
  • Noise Abatement Society, UK
  • Shenyang Jianzhu University, China
  • Harbin Institute of Technology, China
  • Chongqing University, China
Links

Soundscape Indices (SSID) Researchgate

 

 

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/740696

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