Noise maps showing areas that are relatively louder or quieter, measured in decibels (dB), for all road, rail, airport and industry noise in Scotland in 2021. The data represents the night levels (Lnight) – the annual average A-weighted long-term sound over the night period (23:00-07:00). This includes all road sources (major and non-major), all railway sources (major and non-major), aircraft noise from airports (Aberdeen International Airport, Dundee Airport, Edinburgh Airport and Glasgow Airport) and industry sources within qualifying agglomerations (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Falkirk and Glasgow) by means of logarithmic summation.
Scottish Ministers commissioned strategic noise mapping analysis to meet the requirements of the Environmental Noise Directive (Directive 2002/49/EC), which is legally implemented in Scotland thorough the Environmental Noise (Scotland) Regulations 2006, as amended by the Environmental Noise (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018.
Noise maps are used to identify areas where noise levels are high and, by linking population data, estimate how many people are affected. This aids in the production of noise action plans to manage noise and reduce noise levels where appropriate.
