EU Road Traffic Noise Contours for 2021 Using CNOSSOS Method

Noise contour and time period EU noise map 2021 is a dataset created within the framework of the EU Environmental Noise Directive. It contains noise contours for the base year 2021, based on provincial roads with an intensity of more than 3 million vehicles per year, calculated using the CNOSSOS method. The dataset is produced once every five years by the Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaan Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties, though it uses 2019 traffic intensities due to the impact of COVID-19 measures on 2020-2021 data.

Use Cases

• Modeling environmental noise exposure for populations near major roads based on traffic intensity thresholds.
• Assessing compliance with the EU Environmental Noise Directive using standardized CNOSSOS calculation methods.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of noise pollution from provincial road networks with over 3 million annual vehicles.
• Comparing noise levels across regions using a consistent five-year reporting framework.

Strengths

• Data is produced under a standardized EU regulatory framework (Environmental Noise Directive).
• Uses a specific, standardized calculation method (CNOSSOS) for noise modeling.
• Focuses on a defined subset of high-traffic roads (intensity >3 million vehicles per year).
• Dataset has a defined update frequency (once every five years).

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Traffic data for the nominal year (2021) is based on 2019 intensities, creating a temporal discrepancy.

Provenance

Source

Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties

Collection Method

Calculated using the CNOSSOS method on traffic data from provincial roads.

Time Range

Base year 2021, using traffic intensities from 2019.

Freshness

Update frequency is every five years; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Likely covers areas within the European Union, specific to regions with qualifying roads.