Noise Observation and Information Service for Europe - NOISE


NOISE is the Noise Observation and Information Service for Europe maintained by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Topic Centre for Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation (ETC-ACM) on behalf of the European Commission. It contains data related to strategic noise maps delivered in accordance with European Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise.

Otherwise known as the Environmental Noise Directive, or END, it establishes a system of source identification, noise mapping and population exposure assessments based upon harmonised noise indicators for Europe. 

The EEA requests all its member and collaborating countries to provide the information required by the Environmental Noise Directive because noise pollution is a pan European issue. EEA produces assessments of the impact of noise, which aim to cover all of the geographical areas of Europe that are most affected by major transport network and industrial noise sources.

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Noise data content disclaimer

This database contains information reported by EU member states and EEA member countries in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise.

Responsibility for the quality of source data, methodologies and models rests with the member states and member countries.

This database covers the data reported by member states and member countries corresponding to 2005 and 2007 deliveries, and to 2010 (2008) and 2012 deliveries, updated up to 30th of June 2015 for both noise exposure data and for noise contour maps.

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Recommended system and setup to visualise the NOISE viewer

Recommended Setup. This website requires the Adobe Flash plugin, version 9 or higher. It is best viewed with a high-resolution video card at a resolution of 1280 x 1024 and colors set to "True Color(32bit)".

Browser Compatibility. This website should work on any web browser compatible with Adobe flash technology.

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What this NOISE viewer is all about?

Navigation through the NOISE viewer will allow you to:
  • Look up noise exposure data by different noise sources and at different scales of geographical representation, for 2007 and 2012.
  • Look up differences occuring from 2007 to 2012 in agglomerations and major airports.
  • Look up where the main noise sources considered by the END are located in Europe (agglomerations with more than 100.000 inhabitants, major airports with more than 50.000 movements/year, major roads with more than 3 million vehicles per year and major railways with more than 30.000 train passages per year).
  • Download the data on noise exposure corresponding to the strategic noise maps delivered by the member countries up to 30th of June 2015 and quality checked by (ETC-ACM).
  • Zoom into noise contour maps in those countries for which the information has been made available in a format suitable for publication.
  • List of the existing national noise data viewers reported by the member states.

How to use the viewer:

  • You should select if you want to see data on noise exposure or available noise contour maps at the bottom bar (by default, noise exposure data will be shown). You should also select the reference year you would like to look up the data or if you would like to visualise changes occuring from 2007 to 2012.
  • In case of selecting noise exposure data:
    • You should select a noise source on the widget window entitled “Noise Sources”
    • It is only possible to visualise a single value on noise exposure data each time you make a selection, due to the manner in which data has been reported in accordance with the END.
    • By default, information at European level will be displayed in the map and in the graphs (which you will be able to check by opening the widget window entitled “Exposure statistics”); if you want to display the information at a different geographical scale (at country or at local level), you should select it though the combo boxes located at the bottom bar.
    • The zooming and panning functions will allow you to browse through the map, although the statistical information is not going to be updated.
    • Noise exposure data is shown in the map at European and national and local level.
  • In case of selecting noise contour maps:
    • You should select one of the countries listed in the combo box at the bottom bar and the 2007 or 2012 year.
    • A list of the available noise contour maps for the selected country is displayed in the widget window entitled “Noise contour maps”.

More information on “How do I get started” can be found in the HELP section.

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Enter the NOISE Viewer




Please feel free to contact us with any comments or suggestions you may have regarding NOISE, via E-mail or telephone at +34 93 581 3868.

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