General Noise Information
According to Webster's New World Dictionary, noise is any loud, discordant or disagreeable sound or sounds. Ambient noise is constantly and spontaneously occurring "background noise." Car engines roaring, dogs barking, wind blowing and birds chirping are some of the sounds that combine to make up the ambiance.
Levels of sound are expressed in decibels (dB), a numerical expression of the relative loudness of a sound. Here are some examples of how loud certain common sounds are:
A car engine at 50 feet away averages 70 dB.
A power lawnmower at 50 feet away averages 90 dB.
A diesel truck at 50 feet away averages 80 dB.
A train at 50 feet away averages is 85 dB.
A Walkman at 5/10 setting is 94 dB.
The ARCO Arena during a Sacramento Kings basketball game can reach 108 dB.
An older Boeing 747-200 series aircraft flying directly over a home two miles away from the airport measures 100 dB outdoors.
A newer Boeing 757 aircraft flying the same path measures 74 dB.
