Measurements of noise energy angular distribution at the building envelope using microphone arrays

This paper presents an experimental procedure for determining the probability density function of incident noise energy angular distribution at the building envelope using a microphone array as a measuring device. The motivation for this analysis is the development of a methodology which would provide an insight into the actual structure of the sound field impeding the façades in urban environments. The procedure is based on spatial source localization using a microphone array mounted on the building façade. The results are presented for one characteristic situation in an urban area using different algorithms for space-time signal processing. It is assumed that measurements in different types of façade surroundings, such as canyon and non-canyon streets, would point to the specificities of energy distributions which can be expected in the given situations.