Temporal variability of noise pollution attenuation by vegetation in urban parks

The present study proposed a novel approach to investigate variability in the acoustic behavior of a number of deciduous tree-dominated narrow and long urban parks in Isfahan city, central Iran, between winter leaf fall and summer foliage. Noise levels (L q30 in dB) were measured along two adjacent sides of the parks: along the road-adjacent side (Ro transect) and the relatively calmer river-adjacent side of the parks (Ri transect) during 4–17 January 2018 and 7–14 August 2019. Using Sentinel-2 images, two NDVI maps were also produced for these two periods to determine how changes in green biomass were associated with changes in noise levels. Using ANOVA, a significant difference was found in Ri-L q30 and NDVI maps between winter and summer ( p = 0.0), while the difference was insignificant for Ri-L q30 ( p = 0.1). We also developed two multiple linear regressions, one for each season, to assess the dependency of Ri-L q30 to the intensity of vegetation and Ro-L q30 and compare the two seasons by performing a t test analysis on the intercept and slope of the models, with results suggesting there is a significant difference in the association of green biomass and noise levels measured inside the parks between leaf fall and foliage time ( p = 0.04). Our results indicated the temporal variability of park characteristics in providing calmer urban landscapes throughout the year.