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The noise map facilitates the tracking of trends in transportation-related noise, by mode, and collectively for multiple transportation modes. The data allow viewing the national picture of potential exposure to aviation and highway noise. The data also allow viewing of the potential exposure at the state or county level.
The National Transportation Noise Map is an addition to the National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD), a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, networks, and associated infrastructure available from the BTS Geospatial Data Catalog. The layers will be updated on an annual basis, and future versions of the National Transportation Noise Map are envisioned to include additional transportation noise sources, such as rail and maritime.
The BTS map contains aircraft and road noise inventory data provided as web map services (WMS) for use with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), computer programs that can store, analyze, and present spatial or geographic data.
The geospatial data provides a basis for understanding what-if scenarios and helping policy makers to prioritize noise-related transportation investments. Using the National Transportation Noise Map data, BTS highlighted the percentage of total U.S. resident population that had the potential to be exposed to the following A-weighted 24-hour equivalent sound levels (LAEQ) (a-weighted, average sound level for the day) from aviation and Interstate road noise in the year 2014.
