In my final (sunny!) visit to UMore Park for this study, I chose to record audio samples at the site of the wind turbine to be installed in the NE area of the UMore Park property. Plans for this endeavor are currently being finalized and developed, with the actual turbine to be installed in August. After exploring the property further last week and comparing different sites that Steve was able to give me a bit more history and development news on, I thought this site would work best for recording audio samples that could be compared against near future samples in as soon as a few short months. I got to this site with the helpful direction of Steve the week before, and by taking county road 46 heading west, a left on Blaine Avenue, and another left on the small gravel offshoot of 152nd street on the property. The site isn't too far from county road 52, though traffic on this road was not very prominent at the time when I recorded these samples. The following is documentation of my audio samples, recorded on Tuesday, 5/3.
For ease of understanding how to repeat this recording in the future, the following sound recordings were sampled every 100 steps as I walked from the furthermost east corner of 152nd St to its western edge. They are as follows:
93.8 dB SPL with a 99.3 dB max
83.4 dB SPL with a 99.3 dB max
63.1 dB SPL with a 90.2 dB max
64.7 dB SPL with a 90.2 dB max
70.1 dB SPL with a 96.5 dB max
74.9 dB SPL with a 96.5 dB max
66.0 dB SPL with a 96.5 dB max
70.8 dB SPL with a 96.5 dB max
74.3 dB SPL with a 96.5 dB max
79.7 dB SPL with a 96.5 dB max
68.0 dB SPL with a 96.5 dB max
82.9 dB SPL with a 96.5 dB max
Without being able to compare this data against any other samples taken at the site, it is difficult to tell whether the development of the wind turbine on this property will have any large effect on the volume of noise in its vicinity or otherwise. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience to document one specific area in a more or less scientific way, so as to allow for consistency in the next recording here for ease of comparison. I look forward to seeing what comes of the wind turbine's installment and how it may effect the property's future development even further.
Although not stated, it is implied that your dB readings are A-weighted, true? What about the C-weighted readings that would measure levels of ambient infrasound prior to turbine operation? The debate on whether infrasound has any effect on the human body has been debated contentiously over the past several years. What an opportune time to gather this data before the turbine is operational. If you need more information on infrasound and its theoretical effects on the human body, I would refer you to the 2009 MN Dept of Health white paper, "Public Health Impacts of Wind Turbines" http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/topics/windturbines.pdf
I am currently in a doctorate of nursing practice program at the U and am contemplating using this topic as the focus of my DNP project. If it would come to fruition, it would be advantageous to draw on your expertise in doing sound measurements. I do have some work experience using a sound meter, but it has been a while. You will have to let me know if this would be something you are willing to do or can direct me to someone else within the U who could help me with this. My email is schu0652@umn.edu. I look forward to hearing from you.