Smart Sensor Node for Distributed Noise Monitoring

The exposure of millions of people to high noise levels in urban environments is a serious problem globally. The main source of noise is public transport, especially rail transport. The first step in determining the risk in this context is to conduct studies of the noise levels of major nodes of urban transport systems. This work presents the design and implementation of a smart sensor node for distributed noise pollution monitoring. The measurements with the sensor modules are mainly intended for estimating the noise load of the users of public transport and are made at a tram, subway and bus stops. The first measurement results show that the noise levels in the subway and bus stops may exceed the recommended exposure guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Environment Agency [1]. Based on the measurements, actions can be taken to reduce the noise exposure risk in subway and bus stations.