Investigation of the noise reduction provided by tree belts

This study investigates the noise reduction effect of 35 evergreen-tree belts. A point source of noise was positioned in front of the tree belts and the noise level at various points in the belts was measured with a noise meter. Factors important for noise reduction include visibility, width, height and length of the tree belts. Stepwise regression was employed to examine the factors associated with noise reduction. A negative logarithmic relationship between the visibility and relative attenuation was found. A positive logarithmic relationship between relative attenuation and the width, length or height of the tee belts was also found. A map showing the relationship between visibility together with width was plotted. The map provides some practical suggestions concerning design of tree belts for noise reduction.