This report describes a computer program to calculate community noise exposure as determined by the Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF) methodology. Studies by the United States Environmental Protection Agency have meanwhile led to the specification of another community noise exposure measure: the Day/Night Average Level (DNL). Since the two types of descriptors are essentially similar, the computer program may be adapted to this new unit when the need arises without the need to redevelop the computational algorithms.

This report describes a computer program to calculate community noise exposure as determined by the Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF) methodology. Studies by the United States Environmental Protection Agency have meanwhile led to the specification of another community noise exposure measure: the Day/Night Average Level (DNL). Since the two types of descriptors are essentially similar, the computer program may be adapted to this new unit when the need arises without the need to redevelop the computational algorithms.

This report is one of a series describing the research program undertaken by the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory to develop procedures for predicting community noise exposure resulting from aircraft operations. This report outlines the acoustic measurement test conditions, the acoustic data reduction and interpretation procedures, and the type of aircraft performance information needed to obtain a noise data file for predicting the noise produced by aircraft operations. The procedures result in the descriptions of the noise of an aircraft in terms of the effective perceived noise level, the sound exposure level and several other noise measures. Level flight measurements and static engine noise tests are described, and are applicable to conventional fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

This report is one of a series describing the research program undertaken by the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory to develop procedures for predicting the community noise exposure resulting from aircraft operations. It reviews current methods for predicting noise exposure around an airport, the results of various social surveys around airports, and psychoacoustic studies of aircraft noise signals, as well as effects of aircraft performance, flight path dispersion, non-standard weather effects, and other factors affecting the accuracy and variability in predicting aircraft noise exposure on the ground. These reviews and analyses are used to recommend a revised procedure for predicting noise around air bases.

"TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Synthesis 9: Effects of Aircraft Noise: Research Update on Select Topics includes an annotated bibliography and summary of new research on the effects of aircraft noise. The report is designed to update and complement the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's 1985 Aviation Noise Effects report"--Publisher's description