Aircraft noise and sleep disturbance - summary of Government sponsored research

A summary of government sponsored research

Important Note

This page is designed to give an introduction to UK Government sponsored research into aircraft noise and sleep disturbance. Although there are brief references to various research studies, only by reading the reports themselves can their findings be fully appreciated.

In particular, the precise definitions of terms such as 'disturbance', 'arousal' and 'awakening' are crucial in interpreting the research findings. It is therefore important that the interested reader should check the exact definitions used in each case.

Reports reflect the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Government.

Past Research

1. It has been long-standing Government practice that policy on night noise should be based on research into the relationship between aircraft noise and sleep disturbance. Research in the 1980s was based primarily on social surveys of people living around Heathrow and Gatwick. The sites chosen for the surveys covered a very wide range of aircraft noise exposure. Laboratory studies of sleep disturbance had suggested that the probability of an awakening depended on the peak noise level of a single noise event. The social survey research, on the other hand, focused on the combination of all the aircraft noise events occurring over an 8 hour night, as measured by Leq (the equivalent continuous sound level, which takes account of the average noisiness and number of events).

2. Earlier reports include:

i. Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance: Final Report DORA Report 8008 August 1980. (£3.50).

ii. Noise Disturbance at Night near Heathrow and Gatwick Airports: 1984 Check Study DR Report 8513 February 1986. (£2.50).

iii. Noise Disturbance at Night near Heathrow and Gatwick Airports: Critique of the Technical Issues Raised by Consultees during the 1986 public consultation DORA Report 8715 October 1987. (£3.00).

iv. Night Noise Contours: A Feasibility Study Porter et al, National Physical Laboratory, 1997.

(i)-(iii) are available from http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp . (iv) is available free of charge from the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 OLW.

3. A more detailed list of research publications concerning aircraft noise and sleep (and aircraft noise more generally) may be found on the website of the Environmental Research and Consultancy Department of the Civil Aviation Authority at http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=68

4. In 1992 the Department of Transport published the results of a major sleep study. The main purpose of the study was to provide objective measurements of disturbance of people's sleep. Scientific measurements of disturbance were obtained from people while they were sleeping in their homes near Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airports. The study also included a social survey element and the results of that were related to those from the earlier research.

Report of a Field Study of Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance (1992): Executive Summary is reproduced in the following section.

5. The full title of the report is Report of a Field Study of Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance: A study commissioned by the Department of Transport from the Department of Safety, Environment and Engineering, Civil Aviation Authority December 1992.(£10.00) A summary of the report in paper form is available from the Department free of charge at the contact address at paragraph 15). The full report is available from The Stationery Office (telephone orders/general enquiries 0870 600 5522, fax orders 0870 600 5533). Website: www.tso-online.co.uk

6. The report concluded that high aircraft noise levels could awaken people, but that the likelihood of the average person having his or her sleep noticeably disturbed due to an individual aircraft noise event was relatively low. However the Government acknowledged that there are differing views, among those who suffer noise, as to whether a single loud noise event or the accumulation of smaller noise events causes more disturbances. It is clear that disturbance is different from annoyance and also from sleep deprivation, which relates to lengthy periods without sleep. It was also acknowledged that a small minority of people is much more sensitive to noise, and to sleep disturbance from aircraft noise, than most others.

7. In 2003 a supplementary report to the 1992 report was published. The full title of the report is Effects of Aircraft Noise on Sleep: EEG-Based Measurements (K I Hume, F Van & A Watson, Department of Biological Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, June 2003). The report is a further analysis of the raw material derived from the fieldwork and to see what could be learned about the possible effects of noise in preventing sleep onset at the beginning of the night, or delaying return to sleep after awakening during the night or in the early morning. The report may be found on the following web site: http://www.search.mmu.ac.uk/search?q=Effects%20of%20aircraft%20noise%20on%20sleep:%20EEG-Based%20Measurements&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&client=mmumain&proxystylesheet=mmumain&site=default_collection

Recent Research

8. In 1998 further research was commissioned to include:

• a review of existing research in the UK and abroad; and
• a trial to assess methodology and analytical techniques, to determine whether to proceed to a full scale study of either sleep prevention or total sleep loss.

9. The review of existing research was carried out on the Department's behalf by the then Department of Operational Research and Analysis (DORA) of National Air Traffic Services Ltd (now Environmental Research and Consultancy Department (ERCD) of the Civil Aviation Authority Adverse Effects of Night-Time Aircraft Noise (2000): Executive Summary

The full title of the report is Adverse Effects of Night-Time Aircraft NoiseDORA R&D Report 9964, March 2000. A copy is available on the Civil Aviation Authority's website at http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?categoryid=33&pagetype=65&applicationid=11&mode=detail&id=753

10. The methodology trial had been commissioned because the earlier research highlighted the need for further investigation into the overall question of whether aircraft noise causes harmful loss of sleep throughout the night and especially the effect of sleep delay and disturbance at the beginning and end of the night. Its aim was to decide whether to proceed to a full scale study of the effects of aircraft noise on either sleep loss or sleep prevention at the beginning of the night, or on premature awakening towards the end of the night. It was subsequently decided to complement the methodology trial with a social survey to help explore the marked difference between objectively measured and publicly perceived disturbance due to night-time aircraft noise.

11. Both the methodology trial and social survey were managed for the Department by the Department of Operational Research and Analysis (DORA) at National Air Traffic Services (now Environmental Research and Consultancy Department (ERCD) at the Civil Aviation Authority). Two consortiums undertook the detailed research work.

12. The methodology trial was carried out in two parts. The first was a field trial based in residential areas in the vicinity of Manchester Airport involving measurements of people sleeping in their homes using electroencephalography (EEG) equipment, and covered 'high noise' and 'lower noise' areas. The second was a laboratory trial in a sleep laboratory at the Centre for Human Sciences at Farnborough involving subjects from the Farnborough area having similar socio-economic characteristics to the Manchester areas.

The report is entitled Aircraft Noise and Sleep - 1999 UK Trial Methodology Study27 November 2000. (Ian Flindell & Andrew Bullmore, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research Consultancy Services, University of Southampton; Karen A Robertson, Nicky A Wright, Claire Turner & Claire Birch, Centre for Human Sciences, Defence Evaluation and Research Agency; Mark Jiggins & Bernard Berry, Centre for Mechanical and Acoustical Metrology, National Physical Laboratory; Martin Davison & Martin Dix, MVA Consultancy).

The Report (which includes an executive summary) may be found on the following web site: www.isvr.co.uk/environm/sleep.htm

13. The social survey comprised four parts:

i. a qualitative study involving focus group discussions with residents in areas around Heathrow and Manchester airports;

ii. a secondary analysis of data from a previous survey in Bristol about aircraft noise at night;

iii. an interview survey of respondents in areas around Heathrow, Manchester, Gatwick, East Midlands and Stansted airports; and

iv. a postal survey of respondents in areas around Heathrow, Manchester, East Midlands and Coventry airports.

In the case of (iii) and (iv), two sites were chosen for each survey to represent areas exposed to relatively high and low levels of noise at night.

The report is entitled Perceptions of Aircraft Noise, Sleep and Health. December 2000. (Ian Diamond, Rob Stephenson & Zoe Sheppard, University of Southampton; Andrew Smith, Sheila Hayward & Sue Heatherley, Cardiff University; Gary Raw, Building Research Establishment; Stephen Stansfeld, Queen Mary and Westfield College.)

The report (which includes an executive summary) may be downloaded from:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/environment/perceptionsofaircraftnoisesl2945 (PDF, 511KB)

Please note that the report was formerly published on Southampton University's website at: http://www.socstats.so ton.ac.uk/r esearch/noisereport.doc

Future Research

14. The Government announced on 8 May 2001 that a new full-scale objective sleep study would be unlikely to add significantly to existing knowledge; it is to concentrate instead on further research into subjective responses to aircraft during both day and night.

15. All of the reports referred to may be inspected free of charge at the Ashdown House Library and Information Centre. The address is Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE. An appointment can be made by telephoning the enquiry desk on 020 7944 3039.

16. Further enquiries may be made to:

Mr Roy Strapp
DfT
Aviation Environmental Division 4
Zone 1/33
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 4856
Fax: 020 7944 2189
E-mail: aed@dft.gsi.gov.uk

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