Environmental acoustics is an area of acoustics which predominately deals with all sorts of outdoor-related noise. This would involve the analysis and elevation of outdoor sound generation, radiation and propagation and provide noise mitigation strategies.
Noise sources would include transportation such as trucks, cars, trains, planes etc. as well as industrial noises such as wind farms and construction noise.
The measurement and assessment of noise is typically based on based on their duration, impulsivity, tonal spectrum etc. and compared to the background noise level and required human noise exposure criteria to then determine the significant of adverse impact of the noise at another specific location.
Environmental Acoustical consultants use various tools on a project by project basis to analyze, evaluate and provide noise mitigation strategies. Some of these revolve around on-site acoustic measurements and sound analysis software. The Sound analysis software help acoustic consultants to develop and predict future levels of noise in a region, produce noise contour maps based on the current and future noise generation to being able to create alternate noise reduction scenarios for comparison and evaluation