Associate professor Peter Catcheside will examine whether the low frequency noises generated by wind farms affect sleep, reports a Flinders University blog.
The five-year project, funded by the NHMRC, brings together a team of leading experts in acoustic engineering, psychology, insomnia, and physiology directly relevant to the impact of noise on sleep.
“Sleep disturbance characteristics of wind farm noise compared to other noises already known to disturb sleep have yet to be systematically studied,” said Associate Professor Catcheside.
“Windfarm noise sound energy is mostly at low frequencies, where usual dBA weightings to average hearing, and used in existing guidelines, fail to account for variable low frequency hearing acuity.
“Objective sleep, noise and other measurements will be made in individuals with and without prior windfarm noise exposure, both in field studies, and in tightly controlled laboratory experiments using specialised noise generation equipment to faithfully reproduce and vary windfarm and other noise intensities and noise characteristics.”
