The Soundscape Indices (SSID) Protocol: A Method for Urban Soundscape Surveys—Questionnaires with Acoustical and Contextual Information

Andrew Mitchell; Tin Oberman; Francesco Aletta; Mercede Erfanian; Magdalena Kachlicka; Matteo Lionello; Jian Kang

doi:10.3390/app10072397

Applied Sciences (Apr 2020)

The Soundscape Indices (SSID) Protocol: A Method for Urban Soundscape Surveys—Questionnaires with Acoustical and Contextual Information

Andrew Mitchell,
Tin Oberman,
Francesco Aletta,
Mercede Erfanian,
Magdalena Kachlicka,
Matteo Lionello,
Jian Kang

Affiliations

Andrew Mitchell: UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Tin Oberman: UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Francesco Aletta: UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Mercede Erfanian: UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Magdalena Kachlicka: UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Matteo Lionello: UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Jian Kang: UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/app10072397
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 7
p. 2397

Abstract

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A protocol for characterizing urban soundscapes for use in the design of Soundscape Indices (SSID) and general urban research as implemented under the European Research Council (ERC)-funded SSID project is described in detail. The protocol consists of two stages: (1) a Recording Stage to collect audio-visual recordings for further analysis and for use in laboratory experiments, and (2) a Questionnaire Stage to collect in situ soundscape assessments via a questionnaire method paired with acoustic data collection. Key adjustments and improvements to previous methodologies for soundscape characterization have been made to enable the collation of data gathered from research groups around the world. The data collected under this protocol will form a large-scale, international soundscape database.

Published in Applied Sciences

ISSN: 2076-3417 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); Science: Biology (General); Science: Physics; Science: Chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci

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