Assessment of community noise exposure from rifle shooting

A study of noise conditions around a suburban rifle range was carried out in conjunction with a social survey of nearby residents. These studies were aimed at providing some information on the relationship between noise levels from rifle shooting and human reaction to the noise. The exposure at each surveyed residence was calculated in terms of eight exposure measures. All units gave similar low correlations with residents' reactions, but from other points of view the energy-mean value of the Sound Exposure Level (possibly A-weighted) seems the most useful unit. Units relying on the peak overpressure would not be generalizable to other impulsive noise sources. Even in the case of Sound Exposure Level, the relationship between exposure and reaction is not generalizable to non-impulsive noises, such as aircraft overflights, without some “correction”. This indicates that units such as L dn in which noise exposures from different sources are added on an energy basis are inappropriate for measurement of rifle noise. Noise from the range was found to be very directional, and variable between days. It therefore appears that accurate characterization of such noise requires comparatively extensive measurements on a number of days.