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FrancoAngeli Journals

Scientific papers

Vol. 47 No. 2 (2023)

Survey on the sonic environment in some alpine areas of Aosta Valley

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/ria1-2023oa15535
Submitted
marzo 6, 2023
Published
2024-02-14

Abstract

In May 2022 the Decree of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITE) on “Definition of the modalities for the identification and management of quiet areas inside agglomerations and in the countryside” would give a boost to the promotion of quiet areas and the preservation of the environment acoustic quality where it is already good.
In Aosta Valley, an alpine region characterized and appreciated for its high values of natural environment, with large uninhabited areas and far from non natural sound sources, a wide variety of ambient noise levels are observed, both as a result of natural sound sources and those related to human activities, mainly with a sporting-tourist feature.
This paper analyses the results of previous sound surveys carried out in rural areas in the countryside of the Chamois Municipality in three different seasons, namely summer, autumn and winter. In such periods the acoustic environment, characterized mainly by the natural sounds, can change due to the noise produced by man-made sports (mountain biking and trail in summer, skiing in winter), tourism (hiking), agricultural activities (electric generators, chainsaws, tractors, …) which emerges more or less clearly from the background natural noise.
In particular, in low background noise contexts, very frequent in the areas examined, the impact of individual sound events is particularly important and has been evaluated using the acoustic descriptors “Intermittency Ratio (IR)” and “Harmonica (HRM)”. With regard to the latter index, it has been observed that its application to very quiet areas may present critical issues. A statistical classification of the hourly acoustic data was also performed to support the land management.

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