Draft Environmental Impact Report - East Bay Municipal Utility District

Estates Reservoir Replacement Draft Environmental Impact ReportNoise and VibrationTABLE 3.9-1Definition of Acoustical Terms Used in this ReportDecibel, DbTermSound Pressure LevelFrequency, HzA-Weighted Sound Level,dBAEquivalent Noise Level, LeqL max , L minL 01 , L 10 , L 50 , L 90Day/Night Noise Level, L dnor DNLAmbient Noise LevelIntrusiveDefinitionsA unit describing, the amplitude of sound, equal to 20 times the logarithm tothe base 10 of the ratio of the pressure of the sound measured to thereference pressure. The reference pressure for air is 20.Sound pressure is the sound force per unit area, usually expressed in microPascals (or 20 micro Newtons per square meter), where 1 Pascal is thepressure resulting from a force of 1 Newton exerted over an area of 1 squaremeter. The sound pressure level is expressed in decibels as 20 times thelogarithm to the base 10 of the ratio between the pressures exerted by thesound to a reference sound pressure (e.g., 20 micro Pascals). Sound pressurelevel is the quantity that is directly measured by a sound level meter.The number of complete pressure fluctuations per second above and belowatmospheric pressure. Normal human hearing is between 20 Hz and 20,000Hz. Infrasonic sound are below 20 Hz and Ultrasonic sounds are above20,000 Hz.The sound pressure level in decibels as measured on a sound level meterusing the A-weighting filter network. The A-weighting filter de-emphasizesthe very low and very high frequency components of the sound in a mannersimilar to the frequency response of the human ear and correlates well withsubjective reactions to noise.The average A-weighted noise level during the measurement period.The maximum and minimum A-weighted noise level during themeasurement period.The A-weighted noise levels that are exceeded 1%, 10%, 50%, and 90% ofthe time during the measurement period.The average A-weighted noise level during a 24-hour day, obtained afteraddition of 10 decibels to levels measured in the night between 10:00 pmand 7:00 am.The composite of noise from all sources near and far. The normal or existinglevel of environmental noise at a given location.That noise which intrudes over and above the existing ambient noise at agiven location. The relative intrusiveness of a sound depends upon itsamplitude, duration, frequency, and time of occurrence and tonal orinformational content as well as the prevailing ambient noise level.sb09_001.doc 3-9.2 7/22/2009