Quantification of advanced turboprop aircraft flyover noise annoyance

A laboratory experiment was conducted to quantify the annoyance to advanced turboprop (propfan) aircraft flyover noise. A computer synthesis system was used to generate 45 realistic, time varying simulations of propeller aircraft flyover noise in which the tonal content was systematically varied to represent the factorial combinations of five fundamental frequencies, three frequency envelope shapes, and three tone-to-broadband noise ratios. In the experiment, 64 subjects judged the annoyance of recordings of the 45 synthesized flyover noises presented at three sound levels in a test facility which simulates the outdoor acoustic environment. Analyses of the judgements showed that frequency envelope shape did not significantly affect annoyance. The interaction of fundamental frequency with tone-to-broadband noise ratio did have a large and complex effect on annoyance. Duration corrected A-weighted sound pressure level with a modified tone correction predicted annoyance better than any other measurement procedure.