Investigation of the noise reduction provided by tree belts

This study investigates the noise reduction effect of 35 evergreen-tree belts. A point source of noise was positioned in front of the tree belts and the noise level at various points in the belts was measured with a noise meter. Factors important for noise reduction include visibility, width, height and length of the tree belts. Stepwise regression was employed to examine the factors associated with noise reduction. A negative logarithmic relationship between the visibility and relative attenuation was found. A positive logarithmic relationship between relative attenuation and the width, length or height of the tee belts was also found. A map showing the relationship between visibility together with width was plotted. The map provides some practical suggestions concerning design of tree belts for noise reduction. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.