ACOUSTIC CLIMATE OF SELECTED ROAD SECTORS IN POLAND AND ITS INFLUENCE ON QUALITY OF LIFE

Traffic noise is integral part of life in contemporary societies. Because of increasing number of cars and development of road network about 20% of population of Poland lives under great acoustic stress and its number increases from year to year. There are some regulations dealing with environmental noise in specific types of landscape and settlements. The paper will present the essential results of field research of acoustic climate observed in the surroundings of selected sectors of national roads in Poland. The noise levels were measured in different distance (up to 1 km) from state roads and highways. Daytime and night levels of noise were monitored. Several features of acoustic climate (equivalent noise level, its amplitude and frequency of overloaded noise) were compared with traffic characteristics. We have observed the greatest influence of road traffic within 200-300 m belt along studied roads. 500 m was defined as a distance of stressed acoustic climate. When considering propagation of noise we have found great influence of local environmental factors as relief, land cover and ground moisture. The research was supported by Polish National Centre for Research (NCN) grant No N N306 564940, “Multi criteria assessment of the influence of selected road corridors on natural environment and socio-economic development of surrounded areas”.