Sound mapping: Study of urban noise in Castelo Branco neighborhood in João Pessoa/ PB.
Noise Pollution, Urban Noise, Sound Mapping, Urban Morphology.
The sound sources propagated in the urban space, in particular the noise generated by automotive vehicles, have raised the levels of noise pollution in big cities. For the evaluation and control of the environmental noise, sound maps have appeared, which allows to represent, through the isophonic curves, the sound pressure levels active in the urban space. In this context, the present study aims to evaluate the noise impact caused by traffic noise in the Castelo Branco neighborhood, in João Pessoa / PB, through computational simulations in SoundPLAN® software. Three different sound situations were analyzed: current scenario in the vacation period, current scenario in the class period and hypothetical scenario of prediction for the year 2026. Three different sound situations were analyzed: current scenario in the vacation period, current scenario in the class period and hypothetical scenario of prediction for the year 2026. As a result, it was observed that the neighborhood is fragmented into two acoustic areas: the first one, with smoother noise levels, is represented by the UFPB campus; The second one, with more intense sound levels, it is the area of predominantly residential use. The resulting sound levels in the three scenarios during the day and night periods are above the values recommended by the legislation. There was little sound difference between the current holiday and classroom settings. The urban morphology of the neighborhood, especially the dense vegetation and the accentuated topographic differences, plays an important role of sound attenuation. The urban noise critical points, in Castelo Branco, reaching 83dB (A), are found on the edges of the BR 230 highway, in the rotations and in the arterial ways.