USING NOISE MODEL SIMULATION (NMSim) AS A TOOL FOR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DECISIONS IN NATIONAL PARKS
The National Park Service (NPS) Natural Sounds Program (NSP) office was established in 2000 to help parks manage sounds in a way that protects park resources and provides access and enjoyment for visitors.
Management of NPS acoustical environments is an increasingly
important issue, and visualizing noise impacts through models is one method of
conveying acoustical information in an approachable way. Models such as NMSim
that can simulate sonic conditions in a park can facilitate understanding of
complex scenarios, and have great potential to inform the decision-making
process. NMSim utilizes topography, ground impedance, ambient sound levels, and
custom source spectra to generate spatially explicit animations of vehicle and
aircraft noise propagation through space and time. The NSP has been generating
NMSim models for several national parks. This presentation will give a case in
which NMSim is used to investigate the impacts of different vehicle types (cars,
motorcycles, buses, etc.), as well as a second case focusing on aircraft noise.
These studies demonstrate that NMSim is capable of providing
a wide range of robust quantitative results.
They also underline NMSim's ability to clearly and efficiently convey
these results to scientists, planners, and managers alike.
Figure 1. NMSim output map
showing A-weighted decibel (dBA) time histories of aircraft above Grand Teton National Park.