Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Acoustic monitoring report 2016
Carpenter G and Beeco JA . 2021. Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Acoustic monitoring report 2016. Natural Resource Report. NPS/GRSM/NRR—2021/2267. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2286646
This report presents acoustical data gathered at Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) in June and July of 2016. Data were collected at four sites to provide park managers with information about the acoustical environment, sources of noise, and the existing ambient sound levels within the park. These sites represent four of seven sites originally sampled during a noise measurement study undertaken in 2005 and 2006 by the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center (Volpe) in cooperation with the NPS for the purposes of air tour planning (Figure 1; Lee et al. 2016). The intent of site selection in the 2005–2006 Volpe study was to identify a minimum number of field sites that would allow for characterization of baseline ambient sound levels throughout the entire park (Lee et al. 2016). Acoustic zones were identified based on attributes that affect acoustics such as land cover and wind conditions. Sites were selected within zones such that measurements would represent acoustic conditions throughout the entire zone, or portions of the zone nearest a given site. Therefore, wide geographic coverage within the park was prioritized during site selection. The four acoustic zones and approximate percent park coverage were Hardwood Forest (52%), Spruce-Fir Forest (25%), Pine-Oak Forest (20%), and Open Field Grass (1%). Final site selection within acoustic zones was made with additional criteria including Park/Resource Management Zones and Commercial Air Tour Flight Routes. Only four of the seven sites could be resampled in 2016 due to equipment and staffing shortages, however, those chosen represent a range of visitor and air tour usage within the predominant acoustic zones (Figures 2–5). Given the placement of monitoring sites, sound levels described in this document are more representative of what visitors would experience in the backcountry than at high visitor use areas.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Carpenter, Grace; Beeco, J.
- Date of Issue
- 2021-06
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/nrr-2286646
- Units
- GRSM , NRSS
- Keywords
- Acoustics, Natural Sounds, Sounds