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. 2020 Sep;148(3):1748.
doi: 10.1121/10.0002008.

Changes in noise levels in the city of Madrid during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020

César Asensio  1 , Ignacio Pavón  1 , Guillermo de Arcas  1
Affiliations

Changes in noise levels in the city of Madrid during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020

César Asensio et al. J Acoust Soc Am. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

The lockdown that Madrid has suffered during the months of March to June 2020 to try to control and minimize the spread of COVID-19 has significantly altered the acoustic environment of the city. The absence of vehicles and people on the streets has led to a noise reduction captured by the monitoring network of the City of Madrid. In this article, an analysis has been carried out to describe the reduction in noise pollution that has occurred and to analyze the changes in the temporal patterns of noise, which are strongly correlated with the adaptation of the population's activity and behavior to the new circumstances. The reduction in the sound level ranged from 4 to 6 dBA for the indicators Ld, Le, and Ln, and this is connected to a significant variation in the daily time patterns, especially during weekends, when the activity started earlier in the morning and lasted longer at midday, decreasing significantly in the afternoon.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
(Color online) Noise monitoring station (Plaza del Carmen).
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
(Color online) Noise monitoring location in Madrid's network. Zoomed and highlighted Carlos V, Plaza del Carmen, Escuelas Aguirre and Casa de Campo.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
(Color online) Hourly noise level time series in five selected locations.
FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.
(Color online) Lden and Ln time series in five selected locations.
FIG. 5.
FIG. 5.
(Color online) Aerial photographs of the selected locations.
FIG. 6.
FIG. 6.
(Color online) Box plot for weekday and weekend noise reduction (indicator Ln).
FIG. 7.
FIG. 7.
(Color online) Tolerance range for the changes in daily noise patterns during lockdown.
FIG. 8.
FIG. 8.
(Color online) Time series of the sound level during an average day in Casa de Campo.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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