The innovated national noise monitoring network in The Netherlands

Over ten years ago, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment started monitoring noise emissions from major roads and railways in The Netherlands. Today, this monitoring program is still going strong. The measured data is used to validate the yearly reported noise production levels calculated by the Dutch road and railway authorities, to monitor trends in noise production, and to check the validity of the Dutch noise calculation method. Measurements in the entire network are performed at an altitude of four meters close to fifty meters from the major road or railway in free field as these are the requirements for the reported calculated levels. The network therefore, has to operate stand-alone, resulting in challenges in terms of power supply, datastorage and communication. Ten years ago, we started with a battery-powered network of simple and cost-effective dataloggers. Recently, we made innovations by transitioning to a solar-powered network of modern sound level meters with remote data communication. In this presentation I will give a brief history of this monitoring network, how it developed, and show you the possibilities of the present-day innovated network.