Speaker
Description
Infrasound, referring to acoustic sound waves between 0 and 20Hz, is becoming more prevalent in our daily lives as large energy converters such as wind-turbines and biogas power plants are commissioned with an increase in scale and in closer proximity to residential areas. The ability to capture the extent of this noise exposure currently relies on localised measurement campaigns with a narrow field of view. To measure infrasound exposure more reliably, we developed a portable infrasound dosimeter that continuously measures both infrasound, and other low-frequency noise (20-85Hz) in the immediate environment during normal daily life. The gadget measures the immission, meaning the exposure of pollutants, in this case noise in the surrounding environment. It fills a missing middle-ground between long term, fixed acoustic arrays, and instantaneous measurement sensors. The devices are calibrated in the frequency domain against primary calibrated reference microphones at PTB. While carrying the device during pilot studies, we were able to measure infrasound in a multitude of scenarios and environments, such as train journeys and flights, bus routes, walking, cycling, and in the vicinity of wind turbines. In the future, our device will be useful in a range of scientific and industrial scenarios, such as investigating the effects of low-frequency sound on humans, predictive maintenance, environmental monitoring, and the commissioning and operation of large industrial sites and power converters.