Impulsive noise is most commonly associated with the construction and demolition industry. If youРІР‚в„ўre using an integrating-averaging sound level meter, this will make the calculation for you and present this in terms of an LAeq. To gain a more reliable estimate of the noise level, you should measure over multiple occurrences to calculate an average. However, you also need to know the duration of each occurrence and the time between each one.

We measure intermittent noise in a similar way to continuous noise, with a sound level meter. This might be caused by a train passing by, factory equipment that operates in cycles, or aircraft flying above your house. Intermittent noise is a noise level that increases and decreases rapidly. You may even want to investigate the noise with 1:3 octave bands, which can provide even more detail about the frequency content of the noise youРІР‚в„ўre measuring. This information will tell you exactly what frequency is causing the noise. Octave bands allow you to break the noise down into its separate frequencies. If you want to analyse the noise further, you need to look for a sound level meter with octave band analysis. You can measure continuous noise for just a few minutes with a sound level meter to get a sufficient representation of the noise level. This could come from factory equipment, engine noise, or heating and ventilation systems. Continuous noiseР”В¬ontinuous noise is exactly what it says on the tin: itРІР‚в„ўs noise that is produced continuously, for example, by machinery that keeps running without interruption. HereРІР‚в„ўs a breakdown of the different types of noise that affect us all. You can learn more about A, C and Z frequency weightings here. When noise has been measured in this way, youРІР‚в„ўll see dB(A). ThatРІР‚в„ўs why we use something called the A-weighted frequency, which is much more sensitive between the 500 Hz and 6 kHz range. When it comes to measuring the different types of noise, we want to replicate how the human ear interprets noise in order to get an accurate representation of its impact. These tones pierce through the background noise that accompanies our lives.

Most commonly, noise is an annoying tone that causes mild to major discomfort or irritation. Our ears are excellent at telling us what noise is. Noise is a type of sound and is defined as unwanted, annoying, unpleasant or loud. ItРІР‚в„ўs important to understand the distinction between noise and sound. Discover our range of noise measurement instruments What is noise?

Workplace noise mapping