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Wind
Farm Noise Assessment by XL2 
One of the largest acoustic consulting firms in
Australia, "Renzo Tonin & Associates" was engaged by the New
South Wales Department of Planning & Industry to conduct wind
farm noise assessments. The goal was to perform a specialist,
independent acoustic compliance audit of three major wind farms
located near Canberra, Australia’s capital city.
The objective of the study was to conduct a detailed noise
assessment at residential dwellings near to the wind farms. Three
wind farms near Canberra, Australia, were investigated.
XL2 Sound Level Meters used for Noise
Monitoring
XL2 Sound Level Meters were operated on a continuous basis,
typically over a six week period at each wind farm. Altogether 6
XL2’s were used for unattended noise monitoring at each of these
locations. Attended noise monitoring was also used to determine
whether penalties apply in the calculation of annoyance levels for
tonal, low frequency, impulsive or intermittent noise.
The principal project manager, Dr. Renzo Tonin, reported: "The
XL2 is a class 1 instrument having an accuracy suitable for field
and laboratory use. It incorporates 1/1 and 1/3 Octave band filters
as well as continuous audio recording. The lower limiting frequency
of the XL2 is just 5 Hz and it exhibits a very low residual noise
floor which makes it eminently suitable for use at wind farm sites
which are typically located in quiet rural locations."
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Dedicated Setup for Wind Farm
Monitoring
The XL2 meters were housed in Pelican cases with the XL2
preamplifier extension cable threaded through an aluminum tube
with a weatherproofing gland at the top to protect and seal
the preamplifier connection. The XL2 was battery powered to
enable continuous noise logging for two weeks at a time at
each residential site. Special windscreens, 200 mm in
diameter, were used to reduce the impact of wind noise on the
microphone. |
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Projects successfully completed
Dr. Renzo Tonin summarized: "We selected NTi’s XL2 sound
level meters for the noise monitoring program because of their
environmental robustness, ease of use and value for money. The
project was successfully completed in the allotted time and on
budget."
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