Inverse Acoustic Localization of Pile-Driving Noise from Synchronized Multi-Receiver SPL Measurements
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Construction noise assessment commonly assumes that the source location is already known, which limits its applicability when active equipment cannot be accessed or precisely surveyed. This study proposes a transparent inverse acoustic model for jointly estimating the location and time-dependent sound pressure level (SPL) of a pile-driving source from synchronized field measurements. Noise was recorded for 5 s at five GNSS-defined receiver positions on a construction site in Astana, Kazakhstan, producing 40 SPL values per receiver at 0.125 s intervals. The model applied spherical geometrical spreading and identified the source position by minimizing the disagreement among the distance-corrected source levels obtained from the receivers. The source was estimated at local coordinates [56.6, 113.8] m, with a Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis indicating a 95% confidence region of approximately 5–8 m under combined receiver-coordinate and SPL-measurement uncertainty. Its reconstructed SPL ranged from 81.6 to 99.9 dB(A) at the 1 m reference distance, while the equivalent source SPL was 90.4 dB(A). The measured impulsive pattern was preserved in the reconstructed source history, with dominant peaks occurring at approximately 1 s intervals. Comparison of measured and predicted receiver levels yielded an overall MAE of 1.3 dB(A) and RMSE of 1.6 dB(A), reflecting internal consistency between measured and reconstructed receiver levels. The as-driven pile position was subsequently surveyed independently, giving a true localization error of 2.3 m for the estimated position, within the 95% confidence region above. Out-of-sample cross-validation and synthetic sweep across the search zone further characterize the method’s identifiability and its expected sensitivity away from the search-zone center.
Source: Eng—Advances in Engineering
DOI: 10.3390/eng7090439
Institution: L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
Language: English
Topic: Noise Effects and Management
Subfield: Speech and Hearing
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,448
OpenAlex ID: W7204870988