Effects of step change in aircraft noise exposure on activity disturbances: Socio-acoustic surveys around Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport

Abstract

A new terminal building was opened at Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport (HNBIA) in December 2014 and since then the number of flights has increased. To investigate the community response to a step change in aircraft noise exposure, socio-acoustic surveys were conducted around HNBIA once before and twice after the operation. The sample sizes in the first, second, and third surveys were 891, 1,121, and 1,287, respectively. Since the use of the two runways changed before and after the operation, the noise exposures were not monotonically increased from the first survey. Thus, the differences in Lday and Lnight between before and after the operation (δLday and δLnight) ranged from -9 to +5 dB and from -2 to +8 dB, respectively. In this study, listening, resting, and sleep disturbances caused by the step change were investigated. It was found that the exposure–response relationships for those activity disturbances become higher according to the increase in δLday or δLnight. However, although the exposure–response relationships for listening and rest disturbances were higher than that in the first survey even in the case that Lday decreased from the first survey, that for awakening was slightly lower than that for the first survey.