Soundscape indicators assessment and mapping in a university campus

The acoustic environment of a University campus is very complex since it usually includes i) zones in which the quietness is very important, to foster concentration needed for working and studying, ii) parking lots and internal road networks, iii) vibrant areas, populated by students and personnel during free time. For this reason, the campuses can be a very interesting case study for testing soundscape analyses tools, as well as to perform research of innovative methodologies for soundscape assessment and mapping. In this paper, the Fisciano campus of the University of Salerno (Italy) is presented as a case study, in which several measurements have been performed. In particular, the results of a soundwalk performed according to the ISO TS 12913 will be presented, together with the data obtained in crowdsourcing mode, collected within the celebration of NoiseCapture parties, organized in the campus during the last years. The NoiseCapture app, in fact, allows to collect both the physical sound levels and the pleasantness rated by participants during the events. The available data of mean pleasantness recorded along the campus will give the chance to test new methodologies for mapping of the detected soundscape. In particular, an Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation technique will be proposed and validated on the mean pleasantness measured during the soundwalk. The results will give interesting hints about the proposed methodology.