Author: SchipholWatch

We are regularly asked whether there is no way to continuously measure aircraft noise and to record the data in the database of our app Explane.

We had a look around on the internet and soon came to the conclusion that this is not very difficult. For example, at Raspberry Pi Geek you will find a fairly complete description for converting the microcomputer into a continuous sound meter.

The costs of such a continuous measurement system can be quite low. For 25 euros you can buy a Raspberri Pi, for another 100 to 150 euros an accurate dB-meter (for example from Peak Tech) with a USB connection that is needed to connect the meter to the computer. Read more >

In our app we show relevant news articles, but in the current version you cannot share these articles with your friends. Please visit https://cms.explane.org to read the articles in your browser and share them via Facebook, Twitter or Whatsapp!

Recently we published posts about an EU citizen’s initiative to tax aviation fuel, about the availability of our new website Aviation Noise Reports by Explane and about the first real results from the app.

As of today you can sign a EU citizens’ initiative that calls for taxation of aviation fuels. We only need 1 million votes together in all EU nation states.

“We call the European Commission to propose to member states the introduction of a tax on aviation fuel (kerosene). The aviation sector enjoys tax advantages despite being one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions”, says its site.

“While greener alternatives to aviation are subject to high taxes, the aviation industry benefits from many unjust tax exemptions. Aviation fuel remains untaxed in Europe and Member States don’t impose VAT on plane tickets, making aviation a more and more attractive transport mode whereas it is the most carbon-intensive.” Read more >

One of the uncertainties of the Explane-data is how precise can we measure aviation noise levels with a smartphone. To quantify those uncertainties we will organise a calibration day in the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport region on June 29th, 2019.

On this day under supervision of the Dutch Noise Abatement Society (Nederlandse Stichting Geluidshinder, https://nsg.nl) we will test as much smartphones as possible against a calibrated noise meter.

Bring your phone with Explane
All we ask from you as a volunteer is to bring your own smartphone with Explane installed on it. We will measure together with the calibrated noise meter for approximately an hour. Read more >

If you use Explane to measure the sound level of a passing airplane, please point the microphone of your smartphone at the plane to get the most reliable measurement.

This tip originates from the Dutch Noise Abatement Society (Nederlandse Stichting Geluidshinder, https://nsg.nl). Thanks!

Not pointing at the airplane will likely registrate lower than real noise levels, so you will measure in favour of the aviation industry.

In rare cases we see registrations with very low noise levels, like 8 dB. Those measurements will likely originate from smartphones with a defect in the microphone or when a user has put a finger over the microphone during the measurement. You can choose to not send in such measurements by not clicking the button, and go back to the home screen of the app. Read more >

Dear followers and users of the Explane app. We have made available a preview of the new open access website with all data that is gathered by you using the app. Please visite https://reports.explane.org/preview.html.

We would appreciate it very much if you provide us with feedback. Is the new site easy to use, do you understand all the presented data, do you need more explanation about what you see? Please mail us at info@schipholwatch.nl.

You can visit the current site at https://reports.explane.org to see the changes.

A few moments ago we have put our new website live that gives you open access to all measurements made with this app.

Please visite https://reports.explane.org and play with the data. Let us know what you think about it, what has to be made better and what information you like or dislike.

Please mail us your feedback via info@schipholwatch.nl or via our form at https://cms.explane.org/feedback.

We need your feedback to improve our site from this first version to the next version! We appreciate that you made over 12.000 measurements in the first phase of this civic science project.

We are nearing the completion of the first version of the web site which will enable you to explore all the data that is gathered with the Explane-app.

The site will allow you to browse all the data, visualize it and choose that information that is interesting to you.

You will be able to choose your own region, to see which airplanes produced the most noise and how many measurements were made in your city.

Currently we are testing the site. Once finished we will publish the site address here and on social media. Please have patience for another week and you will get rewarded!

In our database you filled with aviation noise measurements we see sometimes strange curves. We suspect that these are caused by users who try to measure the aviation noise while standing in the wind.

‘Regular’ measurements show a relatively slow upcoming and dying noise profile. But some of the measurements show more than one top and bottom. We will flag these measurements to distinguish them from the regular registrations.

We will keep these ‘odd’ measurements in our database, to give scientists the chance to analyze them, but we will not show them in our regular overview on the upcoming website. Read more >

The thousands of aviation noise measurements from users of the Explane app have led to a first preliminary result. This could lead to broader noise corridors and thus even more impacted homes.

Measurements show that planes make (much) more noise when they fly over a densely populated area with lots of ‘hard’ materials like bricks and asphalt. The same planes show a lower noise level in an area with ‘softer’ materials like fields, trees and sand grounds.

Airport calculations of noise nuisance do not account for these differences in environments.

If this first result is proved after further research, airplanes cause much more noise pollution in urbanized areas, causing much more nuisance than what was calculated until now by aviation sources. Read more >