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Description
Environmental noise assessment relays on energy-equivalent sound pressure level metrics that quantify the physical properties of sound, while human perception is influenced by perceptual attributes. Psychoacoustic metrics characterise these attributes including loudness, sharpness, roughness, and fluctuation strength, and provide a complementary perspective for the analysis of environmental noise. This work presents an overview of the state-of-the-art of psychoacoustic metrics in environmental noise studies. The analysis considers their application across different sources including road traffic, railway, aviation, and industrial noise, and examines to which extent they can be linked to human responses such as annoyance, disturbance, stress, and cognitive load. The findings highlight both the potential and current limitations of psychoacoustic approaches in this environmental noise assessment. While psychoacoustic metrics can improve the interpretation of perceived sound quality, their relationship with health-related outcomes is not yet fully established and remains context-dependent. This study aims to support the integration of perception-based metrics into environmental noise assessment frameworks.