Building digital twins of cities using the Inter Model Broker framework

Urban areas are becoming increasingly crowded, and as a result it is challenging to ensure that these areas remain liveable and accessible. Municipalities need to make strategic long-term decisions regarding urban planning, which is often a difficult and time-consuming task. Digital twins of cities can assist policy makers during this process,...

Simulation of sound waves using the Lattice Boltzmann Method for fluid flow: Benchmark cases for outdoor sound propagation

Propagation of sound waves in air can be considered as a special case of fluid dynamics. Consequently, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for fluid flow can be used for simulating sound propagation. In this article application of the LBM to sound propagation is illustrated for various cases: free-field propagation, propagation over porous and...

Fast traffic noise mapping of cities using the graphics processing unit of a personal computer

Traffic noise mapping of cities requires large computer calculation times. This originates from the large number of point-to-point sound propagation calculations that must be performed. In this article it is demonstrated that noise mapping calculation times can be reduced considerably by the use of parallel computation on the Graphics Processing...

System Integration and Optimization Model (SIOM)

Modern high tech greenhouses are a combination of various technical systems. There are more and more interactions between those systems. Therefore it is hard to adapt greenhouse design to another climate/situation. There is a need for a decision support system, combining practical know how, local parameters, available design models and...

From noise mapping to interactive noise planning: Experiences with urban strategy

For management of environmental noise, insight in the current noise situation is needed. An important source of information is provided by strategic noise maps, which can be implemented in a policy cycle on noise. However, the planning of noise measures in an urban environment is complex. Besides noise from different source types, many other...

A flexible IT infrastructure for integrated urban planning

This paper presents an IT infrastructure based on an event driven architecture with the objective to decrease the turnaround time for urban planning. Most urban planning takes a long time, not only to get all stakeholders involved, but also to assess various scenarios on several aspects according to (inter)national laws and regulations. By...

Efficient numerical modeling of traffic noise

An optimized method is presented for the numerical evaluation of the sound field generated by an incoherent line source, which is commonly used to model road and rail traffic noise. Two different solutions for the numerical integration over the line source are distinguished, a point source solution and a line source solution. With proper...

Urban strategy: Noise mapping in instrument for interactive spatial planning

Spatial planning in urban areas is complex. Besides noise from different source types, many other aspects play a role. In order to support local authorities and others involved in spatial planning, TNO has developed an interactive instrument: 'Urban Strategy', which integrates a detailed interactive noise map with other aspects such as traffic...

Engineering modeling of traffic noise in shielded areas in cities

A computational study of road traffic noise in cities is presented. Based on numerical boundary-element calculations of canyon-to-canyon propagation, an efficient engineering algorithm is developed to calculate the effect of multiple reflections in street canyons. The algorithm is supported by a room-acoustical analysis of the reverberant sound...

Interactive noise maps for action planning in the framework of the European Noise Directive

The European Noise Directive (END) requires assessment of noise exposures as well as the formulation of Action Plans for the reduction of the number of people harmfully affected by environmental noise. Within the framework of the project ‘Urban Strategy’, TNO has developed an interactive noise map. This detailed interactive noise map allows...

Evaluating noise abatement measures using strategic noise maps

Noise annoyance due to transportation is widespread in industrialized countries and in urban areas in the developing countries. The European Noise Directive (END) requires an assessment of the noise situation as well as the formulation of action plans for the reduction of the number of people harmfully affected by environmental noise. In this...