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Various studies indicate that at the same noise level and during the daytime, annoyance increases in the order of rail, road, and aircraft noise. The present study investigates if the same ranking can be found for annoyance to nocturnal exposure and next day cognitive performance. Annoyance ratings and performance change during combined noise exposure were also tested. In the laboratory 72 participants were exposed to air, road, or rail traffic noise and all combinations. The number of noise events and LAS,eq were kept constant. Each morning noise annoyance questionnaires and performance tasks were administered. Aircraft noise annoyance ranked first followed by railway and road noise. A possible explanation is the longer duration of aircraft noise events used in this study compared to road and railway noise events. In contrast to road and rail traffic, aircraft noise annoyance was higher after nights with combined exposure. Pooled noise exposure data showed small but significant impairments in reaction times (6 ms) compared to nights without noise. The noise sources did not have a differential impact on performance. Combined exposure to multiple traffic noise sources did not induce stronger impairments than a single noise source. This was reflected also in low workload ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Railway noise interferes with daytime activities and disturbs sleep leading to annoyance of exposed residents. The main objective of this paper was to establish exposure-response relationships between nocturnal railway noise exposure and annoyance and to examine self-reported sleep disturbances as short-term reactions to noise. In a field study 33 residents living close to railway tracks in the Cologne/Bonn area (Germany) were investigated. Railway noise was measured indoors during nine consecutive nights at each site. Questionnaires referring to annoyance and non-acoustical factors were performed. Annoyance ratings increased significantly with the total number of trains and freight trains per night, and non-significantly with rising number of passenger trains and energy equivalent sound pressure level (LAeq), when adjusting the model for non-acoustical variables. The total number of trains and the number of freight trains also significantly affected self-reported awakening frequency, but no other aspects of subjective sleep disturbances. The responses of this subject sample referring to railway noise in the previous night point to rather low impairments of exposed residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]