Exposure-response relationships for annoyance by wind turbine noise: a comparison with other stationary sources

There are indications that, given a certain level of noise exposure, the expected annoyance by wind turbine noise is higher than that by noise from other sources such as industrial noise or transportation noise. The aim of the present study was to establish the exposure-response relationship between wind turbine noise exposure and the expected percentage annoyed residents on the basis of available data. Data from two surveys in Sweden (N=341, N=754) and one survey in the Netherlands (N=725) were combined to achieve relationships between Lden and annoyance indoors as well as annoyance outdoors at the dwelling. In addition, the influence of several individual and situational factors was assessed. In particular, annoyance was lower in residents who received economical benefit from wind turbines, and higher in residents for whom the wind turbine was visible from the dwelling. Age and noise sensitivity had similar effects on annoyance to those found in research on annoyance by other sources. The exposure-response relationship for wind turbine noise is compared to previously established relationships for industrial noise.