Analysing urban traffic volumes and mapping noise emissions in Rome (Italy) in the context of containment measures for the COVID-19 disease

Aletta, Francesco; Brinchi, Stefano; Carrese, Stefano; Gemma, Andrea; Guattari, Claudia; Mannini, Livia; Patella, Sergio Maria

doi:10.1515/noise-2020-0010

Cited by 81 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Out of privacy concerns, we did not collect information on participant’s residential address, which thwarted linkage to existing noise maps. Even if such data were available, we could not rely on the official noise maps of Plovdiv, because of the profound and spatially variable changes observed in traffic flow and structure during the lockdown [ 23 , 140 ] and the fact that only half of the participants resided in Plovdiv in the period of interest. Moreover, typical average noise level measurements would not only underestimate participants’ actual exposure to all sources at all sites both indoors and outdoors, but also carrying out measurements at participants’ homes was not feasible during the state of emergency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

University Students’ Self-Rated Health in Relation to Perceived Acoustic Environment during the COVID-19 Home Quarantine

Dzhambov

Stoyanov

Petrova

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: Online education became mandatory for many students during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and blurred the distinction between settings where processes of stress and restoration used to take place. The lockdown also likely changed perceptions of the indoor acoustic environment (i.e., soundscape) and raised its importance. In the present study, we seek to understand how indoor soundscape related to university students’ self-rated health in Bulgaria around the time that the country was under a state of emergency declaration caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Between 17 May and 10 June 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey among 323 students (median age 21 years; 31% male) from two universities in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Self-rated health (SRH) was measured with a single-item. Participants were asked how frequently they heard different types of sounds while at home and how pleasant they considered each of those sounds to be. Restorative quality of the home (the “being away” dimension of the Perceived Restorativeness Scale) was measured with a single-item. A priori confounders and effect modifiers included sociodemographics, house-related characteristics, general sensitivity to environmental influences, and mental health. Our analysis strategy involved sequential exploratory factor analysis (EFA), multivariate linear and ordinal regressions, effect modification tests, and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: EFA supported grouping perceived sounds into three distinct factors—mechanical, human, and nature sounds. Regression analyses revealed that greater exposure to mechanical sounds was consistently associated with worse SRH, whereas no significant associations were found for human and nature sounds. In SEM, exposure to mechanical sounds related to lower restorative quality of the home, and then to poorer SRH, whereas nature sounds correlated with higher restorative quality, and in turn with better SRH. Conclusions: These findings suggest a role of positive indoor soundscape and restorative quality for promoting self-rated health in times of social distancing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

University Students’ Self-Rated Health in Relation to Perceived Acoustic Environment during the COVID-19 Home Quarantine

Dzhambov

Stoyanov

Petrova

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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“…However, the monitoring initiatives described above as an example (and many others not mentioned here) mostly report information and rely on datasets that are aggregated at city or infrastructure level [6], and based on multi-hour or daily time-averaged indicators (e.g., L den , L night , etc. ), because they take place in the framework of the Environmental Noise Directive [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the changing urban sound environment during the COVID-19 lockdown period using short-term acoustic measurements

et al. 2020

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The implementation of lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in wide-ranging social and environmental implications. Among the environmental impacts is a decrease in urban noise levels which has so far been observed at the city scale via noise mapping efforts conducted through the framework of the Environmental Noise Directive. This study aims to understand how lockdown measures have manifested at a local level to better determine how the person-level experience of the urban soundscape has been affected and how these affects differ across urban space typologies. Taking London as a case study, a series of 30-second binaural recordings were taken at 11 locations representing a cross-section of urban public spaces with varying compositions of sound sources during Spring 2019 (pre-lockdown, N = 620) and Spring 2020 (during-lockdown, N = 481). Five acoustic and psychoacoustic metrics (LAeq, LA10, LA90, Loudness, Sharpness) were calculated for each recording and their changes from the pre-lockdown scenario to the lockdown scenario are investigated. Clustering analysis was performed which grouped the locations into 3 types of urban settings based on their acoustic characteristics. An average reduction of 5.4 dB (LAeq) was observed, however significant differences in the degree of reduction were found across the locations, ranging from a 10.7 dB to a 1.2 dB reduction. This study confirms the general reduction in noise levels due to the nationally imposed lockdown measures, identifies trends which vary depending on the urban context and discusses the implications for the limits of urban noise reduction.

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“…Regarding the aviation sector, a recent article reported that the reduction in the number of flights was over 89% for the EU region [ 11 ]. Also, it is estimated that restrictive measures implemented by Italian authorities during the lockdown resulted in a reduction of ~64.6% in private vehicle use in Rome [ 12 ]. The Air quality in Europe—2020 report showed that NO 2 and PM 10 concentrations generally reduced across Europe as a result of lockdown measures and independently of the meteorological conditions [ 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relations between Air Quality and Covid-19 Lockdown Measures in Valencia, Spain

Donzelli

Cioni

Cancellieri³

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The set of measures to contain the diffusion of COVID-19 instituted by the European governments gave an unparalleled opportunity to improve our understanding of the transport and industrial sectors’ contribution to urban air pollution. The purpose of this study was to assess the impacts of the lockdown measures on air quality and pollutant emissions in Valencia, Spain. For this reason, we determined if there was a significant difference in the concentration levels of different particulate matter (PM) sizes, PM10, PM2.5, and NOx, NO2, NO, and O3, between the period of restrictions in 2020 and the same period in 2019. Our findings indicated that PM pollutant levels during the lockdown period were significantly different from the same period of the previous year, even if there is variability in the different local areas. The highest variations reduction in the PM10 and PM2.5 levels were observed for the València Centre, València Avd Francia, and València Pista de Silla (all of the urban traffic type) in which there was a reduction of 58%–42%, 56%–53%, and 60%–41% respectively. Moreover, consistent with recent studies, we observed a significant reduction in nitric oxide levels in all the air monitoring stations. In all seven monitoring stations, it was observed, in 2020, NOx, NO2, and NO concentrations decreased by 48.5%–49.8%–46.2%, 62.1%–67.4%–45.7%, 37.4%–35.7%–35.3%, 60.7%–67.7%–47.1%, 65.5%–65.8%–63.5%, 60.0%–64.5%–41.3%, and 60.4%–61.6%–52.5%, respectively. Lastly, overall O3 levels decreased during the lockdown period, although this phenomenon was more closely related to weather conditions. Overall, no significant differences were observed between the meteorological conditions in 2019 and 2020. Our findings suggest that further studies on the effect of human activities on air quality are needed and encourage the adoption of a holistic approach to improve urban air quality.

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Analysing urban traffic volumes and mapping noise emissions in Rome (Italy) in the context of containment measures for the COVID-19 disease

Cited by 81 publications

References 31 publications

University Students’ Self-Rated Health in Relation to Perceived Acoustic Environment during the COVID-19 Home Quarantine

University Students’ Self-Rated Health in Relation to Perceived Acoustic Environment during the COVID-19 Home Quarantine

Assessing the changing urban sound environment during the COVID-19 lockdown period using short-term acoustic measurements

Relations between Air Quality and Covid-19 Lockdown Measures in Valencia, Spain

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