Abstract

Total noise exposure is calculated for the evaluation of health effects caused by environmental noise. For the calculation, computationally drawn noise maps are used. In the computation process, sound propagation over ground surface with mixed types should be calculated for better accuracy. One engineering model that allows such calculation is the ground excess attenuation model of the Harmonoise model. However, the applicability of the model to such complex grounds remains unclear. In this study, a 40m-length ground surface with a discontinuity in flow resistivity is defined. By moving the discontinuity position, sound propagation from a point source and a receiver at each end is calculated using the model and a numerical method. The numerical method is the finite-difference time-domain method with porous medium modeling that has been proven to be accurate. It is found from the numerical results that in higher frequencies the excess attenuations in terms of the discontinuity position have fluctuations. The fluctuations are found to correspond to the interference by diffraction path difference passing the discontinuity. In contrast, the model results exhibit smooth transition from an extremity of single flow resistivity surface to another. A simple model of such diffraction needs to be developed.