Noise pollution can have a harmful impact on both wildlife and human health. There are several notable community science projects that have focused on noise monitoring, some that use phone applications and others that use noise meters.

Lead image from NoiseTube

Noise monitoring resources and projects:

Apps

Noise can by monitored by apps downloaded to your phone. Here's a Blog post on Apps for noise mapping by Antonella Radicchi.

Here are some App options:

• Softhook.com by Christian Nold: a DIY noise monitoring that he’s deploying around Heathrow
• Citi-Sense: app for evaluating soundscapes - by Chunming Li, from the Chinese Academy of Science
• NoiseTube: one of the very first apps that was developed

Note from Muki Haklay: There are issues with the calibration of phones with apps, which was an issue in some of the work that we’ve done few years ago, so I would also think that you can use class I noise meters.

Noise Meters

• Class I noise meters (they’re not super expensive – about £50 )
• Sound Around Town adapted commercial recording units (Roland-05) and developed calibration devices so that participants in the project can borrow the equipment from local libraries and deploy in their backyards according to a specific protocol. The data will improve the NPS national soundscape maps (which need refinement but are already useful for studies of noise as an EJ issue (e.g., this new study).

Questions

Notes

Activities