COUPLED SIMULATION OF METEOROLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND SOUND LEVEL IN A NARROW VALLEY

A meteorological mesoscale model is used to simulate the time dependen t distribution of temperature and the corresponding development of slo pe-wind systems in a narrow two-dimensional valley during the course o f a cloud-free day. A numerical sound particle model was designed to c ope with both the uneven terrain and the inhomogeneous meteorological environment. The acoustical model takes up the simulated meteorologica l fields and calculates the propagation of noise which originates from a line source at one of the slopes of this valley. The coupled modeli ng system ensures consistency of topography, meteorological parameters and the sound held. The temporal behaviour of the sound pressure leve l across the valley is examined. It is only governed by the time depen dent meteorology. The results show remarkable variations of the sound level during the course of a day. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.