Road traffic noise levels measured in 2009 practically agree with previous results in 2008, except for the A10 motorway. At this site the average noise level has decreased by 1 dB as opposed to the increasing trend in previous years. Furthermore, sample measurements conducted in Utrecht match well with calculated noise emissions from the Dutch calculation method. This computation method is provided by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment to calculate noise due to road and railway traffic.
Noise monitor results for railway noise were provided by Prorail, and consisted of data from two monitoring sites in 2009. The results show that the noise emission at normal driving speeds corresponds well with the calculated emission according to the Dutch calculation method. Also, it was found that the speed-dependency of the noise emission is in line with the national standard.
Furthermore, in 2010 RIVM carried out a pilot study to aircraft noise in a sanctuary near Zegveld, in the province of Utrecht. Noise levels from various types of aircraft near Schiphol Airport were measured from January to March 2010. These measurements were compared with the Integrated Noise Model (INM), a standard calculation tool to determine the noise impact in the vicinity of airports. Average noise emission levels as measured for different airplane types follow predicted levels from INM. Additionally it was found that newer types of aircraft produce less noise than older types.
These are the main results from the RIVM noise monitor programme in 2009. The measurements serve as to monitor trends in noise emission and validation of the standard Dutch calculation methods for roadway and railway traffic. Noise measurements on road traffic have been conducted from continuously operating monitoring stations at the A2 (Breukelen), A10 (Amsterdam), A12 (The Hague/Voorburg) and N256 (Colijnsplaat, province of Zeeland) motorways.