Guidelines for noise monitoring systems in port area

In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, maritime transportation offers a significant advantage compared to the other transport infrastructure, especially for long range distances. However, the estimation of its noise emission has been poor, with a consequent underestimation of the impact on citizens. The causes are probably the lower level of know-how on port noise compared to other noise sources and the high level of complexity that port areas have in terms of the number of different noise sources and interaction with the other main transportation infrastructures. Therefore, ports represent a serious challenge in a noise management standpoint. An effective noise monitoring is helpful to identify noise limits exceedings of the port areas and to plan mitigation measures if needed. Having a port noise monitoring system is also useful for improving the citizen involvement and awareness. Under the hood of the INTERREG Marittimo-Maritime Program, the present work draws up the specifications for integrated noise monitoring networks to be installed in the ports involved in the projects.