An Assessment of Noise Pollution at the Major Hospital of Al Bayda City/Libya Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques

Noise refers to unwanted sound, which causes discomfort to the ears, and is measured in decibels dB. Very high levels of sound above 100 dB Could lead to permanent hearing loss. This study deals with the effect of noise in hospitals which are supposed to be the quietest. This study focuses on Al Bayda Main hospital, which is located in a very busy area of the city. Using high resolution satellite image, 70 noise stations were specified around the targeted therapeutics units and the hospitals border. Sound meter devices were used to measure the sound levels in these hotspots at two different times; from 17:00 to 18:00 Pm and from 24:00 to 01:00 Am. This noise level data converts to GIS program form mapping and allows the studying of spatial variation of noise intensity using “inverse distance weighting”. Results illustrated that the Hospital street traffic noise integrated with the patients` visitors who stay in the green space in front the main entrance have significant impact on the therapeutics units reaching 75 dB in the day and 72 dB at night. Whilst the lowest noise ratio was in the area of the blood bank building which is located behind the main building, which is around 51 dB in the day and 49 dB at night. Authors were extremely surprised when measuring the Intensive Care Unit “ICU” at night to be 67 dB. Key Words:Hospital Noise Pollution, GIS & Remote sensing, “Inverse Distance Weighting IDW, Noise Intensity AlBayda hospital /Libya