• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.11-26
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• 2017

Approximate empirical equations obtained by measuring overall noise levels at different distances have been used to evaluate environmental influence of the railway noise though the accurate prediction of noise levels is important. In this paper, a noise prediction model considering the frequency characteristics of noise sources and propagation was suggested to improve the accuracy of noise prediction. The railway noise source was assorted into track, wheel, traction and aerodynamic components and they were characterized with the source strength and speed coefficient at each octave-band frequency. Correction terms for the acoustic roughness and the track/bridge condition were introduced. The sound attenuation from a source to a receiver was calculated taking account of the geometrical divergence, atmospheric absorption, ground effect, diffraction at obstacles and directivity of source by applying ISO 9613-2. For obtaining the source strength and speed coefficients, the results of rolling noise model, numerical analysis and measurements of pass-by noise were analyzed. We compared the predicted and measured noise levels in various vehicles and tracks, and verified the accuracy of the present model. It is found that the present model gives less error than the conventional one, so that it can be applied to make the accurate prediction of railway noise effect and establish its countermeasures efficiently.