The goal of this project was to determine the ratio of natural to unnatural sounds in Acadia National Park and if the increasing human visitation level has impacted the soundscape. To reach this goal, we measured the current ambient sound level in different acoustic zones around the park and compared our readings to the data from studies conducted in 2005 by the Department of Transportation and in 2013 by a previous WPI team. The resulting data suggested that decibel levels have increased since the 2005 and 2013 studies. Sound identification, based on manual interpretation of samples from continuous audio recordings, suggests a decrease in human-made noise. Furthermore, this study developed a promising AI approach to identify natural and unnatural sounds.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Frederick, Taylor
• Gouveia, Michael
• Gurgol, Sebastian
• DeLeo, Gwenaelle
• Doyle, William

Subject

• Sustainability
• Innovation
• Project-Based Learning
• Environment

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-080223-101130
• 112572

Keyword

• decibels
• soundscape
• sound
• noise
• sound analysis

Advisor

• Bianchi, Frederick W.
• McCauley, Stephen M.

Year

• 2023

Center

• Acadia National Park, Maine Project Center - IQP

Sponsor

• Adam Gibson

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 15 - Life On Land

Date created

• 2023-08-02

Resource type

• Interactive Qualifying Project

Source

• E-project-080223-101130

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2023-08-22