NOISE EVENTS

Few noise situations are well described and controlled: there is a lack of useful tools for planning and building a sustainable urban environment and that permit focusing on the acoustic environment. Although noise situations with steady-noise and relatively balanced spectrums are well-known, it is more difficult to define and manage complex sites. Consequently, we seek to study urban noise situations and especially time patterns in greater depth. One of the first tasks of this study is to investigate noise events and background noise on the basis of noise perception. To this end we have drawn up an example of an indicator that can be used in certain urban situations subject to exposure to transport traffic noise, by recording emergences in comparison to fluctuating background noise. CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES Social demand for environmental quality is increasingly acute. Among the different demands made, that of acoustic comfort is especially important. As a result of public pressure, regulations relating to environmental noise have been developed, implying resources for calculation and measurement as well as tools for describing sound situations. Unfortunately, each domain ha