June 2017 | IJIRT | Volume 4 Issue 1 | ISSN: 2349-6002

PREDICTION OF ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE LEVELS IN

TIRUPATI TOWN USING ANALYTICAL MODELS
AND NEURAL NETWORKS

Gollamandla Sukeerth1, Dr. N.Munilakshmi2 and Chammireddy Anilkumarreddy3

1,3
M.Tech Student, Department of Civil Engineering, SV University College of Engineering, SVU,
Tirupati, AP, India.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, SV University College of Engineering, SVU,
Tirupati, AP, India.

AbstractCurrent increases in population growth have
resulted in an increased transportation demand
worldwide. Due to increasing motorization and
Transport network, the noise level has exceeded the
prescribed limits in numerous Indian cities. Migration of
people from rural to urban areas, development of urban
areas, infrastructure development, population growth
and urbanization are important component resulting in
motorization and consequent increase in levels of various
urban noise pollution. With the advancement of
industrialization at an unprecedented pace, the urban
centres of todays world have experiencing heavy noise
pollution which has become a part of our day-to-day
lives.The present study measures traffic volume and
noise levels during the peak traffic flow in the selected
areas of Tirupati town. The traffic volume studies are
carried out by means of manual methods prescribed by
Indian Standards and noise levels are measured
following standard procedure using Sound Pressure
Level Meter. The obtaining results are used to validate
the existing mathematical models and Neural Network
are used for the prediction of noise levels of Tirupati
town.
Index TermsTraffic noise pollution, Traffic volume,
octave band analyser. Neural networks
I. INTRODUCTION
Currently all the developing countries like India are
facing threat due to vehicular noise pollution.
Migration of people from rural to urban areas,
expansion of cities, infrastructure development,
population growth and urbanization are important
factors resulting in motorization and consequent
increase in levels of various urban noise pollution .The
total urban population of India has increased
considerably over the past three decades, rising from
109 million in 1971 to 160 million in1981 and then
217 million in 1991 and 285 million in 2001. This
increase in population coupled with the increase in
number of motor vehicles is showing alarming levels
of traffic congestion, air pollution, noise pollution and
road accidents. Urban traffic noise is one of the most
critical types of noise and normally considered more
interfering than the other types of noises. Fast growing
vehicle population in town in the recent years, has
resulted in considerable increase in traffic on roads
causing alarming noise pollution and air pollution. In
India like many other developing countries traffic
noise is major continents of environmental pollution
and now it has become a permanent part of urban and
sub-urban life. It is very harmful to human beings.
In the new millennium, for protection environmental
degradation it is imperative to pay greater attention
towards measuring noise pollution, enforcing
regulation for noise emission.
Limits, elimination and control noise pollution.
Taking a step in this direction, Noise pollution level
was measured in Tirupati town.
II. METHODOLOGY
The traffic volume study was conducted in Tirupati
town at Four Major Junctions. To measure the
potential effects of traffic noise at Four Major
Junctions, data on traffic volume, including types of
vehicles were measured and roadside sound levels are
measured and interpreted using various models. Sound
level meters, a manual hand counter, and portable
measurement instruments were used to obtain the
required data. Data analysis was conducted using
Microsoft Excel and SLM (Sound Level Meter).

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Traffic volume (composition and flow) and traffic

noise were measured at three time periods per day at
Four Major Junctions. These time periods were the Cvetkovic et al. (1997) (3)
morning peak hour (08:0010:00 AM), the daytime
peak hour (02:0003:00 PM), and the evening peak
hour (05:0007:00 PM). The volume and composition
Josse (4)
of traffic were measured for 60 min during each peak
Where
period. Traffic composition was determined on the
Leq=Equivalent Continuous Noise Level (dBA),
basis of the presence of two wheelers, three wheelers,
P =Percentage of heavy vehicles (%),
four wheelers and Heavy vehicles (Buses, Lorries).
Q = Total number of vehicles per hour,
Data on the geometric dimensions of road sections, as
Nc= Number of light vehicles per hour,
well as the number of lanes and their widths, were also
Nm= Number of motorcycles per hour,
measured. Sound level measurements were performed
Nb=Number of buses per hour
using a sound level meter (Real Time Octave Band
Analyser Model No: 407790). Traffic noise was
III. RESULTS FOR FOUR EXISTING
measured using Sound Level Meter in1/3 Octave-
MODELS
band mode index with an A-weighted scale expressed
as Leq, in decibel units at an interval of 3 seconds Annamayya Circle
throughout the peak period.

Mathematical Models for Calculation of Noise

Prediction
Traffic noise prediction models are designed to
facilitate planning for new roads or account for
changes in traffic noise conditions. Most mathematical
models adopt Leq as the most representative physical
variable that quantifies noise emissions. Leq
corresponds to the sound pressure of a fictions
stationary noise that emits acoustic energy similar to
that emitted by a non-stationary source (Cvetkovi et
Burgess
al., 1997). The equivalent continuous noise level in A-
weighted decibels (dBA) is widely recognized as a
stable descriptor of motor vehicle noise (Cvetkovi et
al., 1997). Mathematical models for the prediction of
traffic noise usually extract the functional relationship
between noise emissions and measurable traffic and
road parameters. The classical functional relationships
based on data measured through semi-empirical
models, typically regression analyses, are shown
below.

Burgess (1997) (1) Fagotti and Poggi

Fagotti and Poggi (1995) (2)

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Cvetkovic Cvetkovic

Josse Josse

Balaji Colony Bliss Circle:

Burgess Burgess

Fagotti and Poggi Fagotti and Poggi

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Cvetkovic Cvetkovic

Josse Josse

Leelamahal Circle:
IV. NEURAL NETWORK
An artificial neural network is a computational tool
inspired by biological neural systems. It is a massively
parallel distributed processor with the ability to learn
and generalize, i.e. ability to model complex
relationships between inputs and outputs or find
patterns in data. The proposed ANN model is
developed using Graphical User Interface(GUI)
using NN tool in MATLAB software. In this a neural
Burgess network will be developed with different number of
inputs, outputs, hidden layers and hidden neurons
The whole dataset was divided in to three parts:
Data points for training
Data points for validation
Data points for testing
Neural networks predict equivalent sound level (Leq)
according to the input data set which contains a
number of two wheelers, three wheelers, four vehicles,
buses and heavy vehicles. A network has been
developed by taking the traffic volume studies as input
and the Leq values are taken as output value. Eighty
Fagotti and Poggi data sets were used for training, testing and validation

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of the neural Network. Data sets are collected by

systematic noise measurement in urban areas of
Tirupati.
The training set is used to adjust the values of the
connections weights, the validation set to prevent over
fitting problem and the test set to evaluate the
performance of the developed neural network.
In neural networks, mainly four types of networks are
used:
Feed- Forward Neural Network
Radial Basis Function (RBF) Network
Kohonen Self Organizing Network. Architecture for the prediction of Leq values by using
Feed- Forward Back propagation. traffic volume studies as inputs

A few applications of ANN are: No.

R(CORRELATION)
Aerospace Financial Automotive Manufacturing of
Defense Medical Electronics Oil and Gas Hidd Ove
S. Net
Engineering etc., en rall
No work Trai Valid Test
Development of a ANN model with Feed- Forward Neur ning ation ing
Back Propagation: ons
Normalize the inputs and outputs with respect to their 5-1- 0.98 0.96 0.97
maximum values. 1 1 0.955
1 1 9 7
Normalization can be done by using the formula:
5-2- 0.98 0.98 0.98
X=0.1+0.8*(xi / xmax ) 2 2 0.980
1 3 2 2
Where,X= Normalized Value
Choose a neural network, configure its architecture 5-3- 0.98 0.98 0.98
3 3 0.986
and set its parameters. 1 1 1 1
The network will choose randomly the training data 5-4- 0.98 0.99 0.98
4 4 0.986
and will train the network with the training-set data. 1 4 3 6
The network itself evaluate its performance by using 5-5- 0.97 0.98 0.97
5 5 0.979
the validation-set data. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with 1 3 7 5
different architectures and training parameters. Select Performance statistics of a Neural network models for
the best network by identifying the smallest error the prediction of Leq values
found with validation set.
In this study an architecture have been developed for
the prediction of Leq values at the four junctions by
taking traffic volumes studies of the study area under
consideration..
The no. of neurons assumed for the present study are
1 to 5.
It is based on trial and error basis.

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Hz and 3150 Hz, respectively.The acquired

consequences of near testing of a few well-known
models for assurance of the intensity noise of traffic
in urban areas and neural networks designed for this
purpose encourage further research. it is apparent that
the neural network can recognize the dependence of
the intensity noise and the effective parameters, such
as intensity of traffic, width and slope of the road.
Among the four existing models (i.e., Burgess,
Fagotti & Poggi, Cvetkovic, Josse ) and Artificial
neural network the Artificial neural network given
accurate predicted Noise levels.

REFERENCES
[1] Chammireddy AnilKumarReddy et al (2016).
Verification of mathematical models for road
Overall traffic noise prediction of Tirupati town at
leelamahal circle. IJSER.
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[2] R. Josse: Notions dacoustique Paris. France:
Predicted Values (dBA)

0.90 Ed. Eyrolles, 1972

0.88
0.86
0.84
0.82
0.80
0.78
0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95
Measured Values (dBA)
V. CONCLUSION
The traffic flow and volume were high during the
peak periods, and the highest volume was recorded
during both morning and evening timings. The
measured noise level in Leq for the studied locations
varied between 74 and 85 dB(A), which exceeds
Indian guidelines of Noise Pollution Act (1972) of
range 70 dB(A). A slight decrease was observed
during the early afternoons followed by a gradual
increase during the evening times from 4 PM due to
increase in the traffic flow. It was observed that the
highest and lowest sound pressure levels witnessed in
an octave band analysis in the present study were25
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[7] C. G. Balachandran: Urban Traffic Noise in
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