Noise Mapping Scotland 2021 Evening Levels for Road, Rail, Air and Industry

Scotland's strategic noise maps for 2021 show evening noise levels from all road, rail, airport, and industrial sources. The data was commissioned by Scottish Ministers to meet the Environmental Noise Directive, measuring the annual average A-weighted sound during evening hours (19:00-23:00). It is used to identify high-noise areas and estimate affected populations for noise action planning.

Use Cases

• Identify high-noise exposure zones based on consolidated evening noise levels from multiple sources.
• Estimate population affected by noise pollution by linking this data with demographic datasets.
• Support the development of noise action plans based on strategic noise mapping analysis.
• Analyze the relative contribution of different noise sources (road, rail, air, industry) in Scottish agglomerations.

Strengths

• Covers four major noise source categories: road, rail, airport, and industry across Scotland.
• Represents a specific, standardized time period: the annual average evening levels (Leve) from 19:00-23:00.
• Includes noise from major airports (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow) and qualifying industrial agglomerations.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Scottish focus.

Provenance

Source

Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot

Collection Method

Strategic noise mapping analysis commissioned to meet the Environmental Noise Directive.

Time Range

2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:32:04.529496; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Scotland, including specific agglomerations (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow) and airports.