Monitoring noise pollution

Any source of sound has the potential to become noise. Sound and noise are terms linked very closely with one another. For organisations who control and manage noise, noise is considered to be distinct from sound. This distinction is based on several key ideas: Noise is unwanted sound; Noise is a subjective term - what one person thinks is noise, another may consider music; Everything we hear is sound - only unwanted sound is noise; and, We cannot measure noise, but we can measure sound.

Noise mapping can be used to avoid making existing situations worse, identifying and prioritising areas for improvement (i.e. noise reduction), and for monitoring changes. Noise mapping can bring benefits in terms of the cost, speed, and quality of land use planning decisions. In addition to assisting development control and forward planning, noise maps can be used to focus and monitor noise abatement schemes. In the future, noise mapping might be integrated with mapping for other pollutants. This could further enhance the speed, quality, and cost of land use planning and make selection of the best option from alternatives more practicable.