Development of Noise Maps of Great City of Riyadh by Using LimA

Abstract

Riyadh City, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has been subjected to continual increase in road traffic due to overall increase in prosperity, fast development and expansion of economy. In this paper, the first round of noise mapping for Riyadh City is developed by using the Predictor-LimA 7810 software. Road traffic data were measured or estimated as accurate as possible in order to obtain reliable noise maps. The simulation results at some chosen locations are validated by actual field measurements, which are obtained by a system that consists of a sound level meter, a GPS receiver and a database to manage the measured data. The maps show that noise levels remain over 50 dBA and can exceed 70 dBA at the nearside of major roads and highways.