Evaluation of urban pollution by noise emissions registered with a sound level meter and sensor nodes

Abstract

The increase in noise emissions is associated with an increase in the population, with anthropic activities, and it is in urban centers where a series of effects on both the population and the environment occur. This research The present study covered the evaluation of the noise behavior in the city of Cuenca during 2019, for which monitoring was carried out in 31 points distributed in the city based on the average daily traffic, the ordinance of use and occupation of the land and the dynamics of the population; the The national environmental standard TULSMA (Unified Text of Secondary Legislation of the Ministry of the Environment) was taken as a reference. To establish the comparison of the data collected with a (low-cost, noise level) sensor and a sound level meter, measurements were made in 6 monitoring stations established on the basis of noise complaints made by citizens to the autonomous decentralized municipal government of Cuenca (GAD) and the security conditions to place for the placement of the equipment. The results showed that noise, in the city of Cuenca during 2019, noise is above the TULSMA environmental standard in Zone EQ1 (100 % of the measurements), Zone R1 (96 % of the measurements), Zone CM (100 % of the measurements) and in Zone ID3 / ID4 (72 % of the measurements). There was a high correlation coefficient (r = 0.8) and determination coefficient (R2 >0.6), between the data collected with the sensor and the sound level meter. It is worth highlighting the use of the calibrated sound level meter when making sound measurements with various instruments, as it allows the data to be verified and validated.