Authors
-
Dorota MŁYNARCZYK
AGH University of Krakow,
Poland
0000-0002-1288-8057
-
Jerzy WICIAK
AGH University of Krakow,
Poland
0000-0002-3932-6513
Abstract
The paper presents an in-depth analysis of the soundscape within Sarek National Park, the oldest national park in Europe, situated in Lapland, northern Sweden. The comprehensive acoustic measurements, ambisonic recordings, and 360° video recordings were carried out during a scientific expedition in the summer of 2020. The aim of the paper is to show the soundscape analysis of carefully selected characteristic locations in various parts of the valley. The paper extensively discusses the findings derived from the recorded data using both classical acoustic methods and the soundscape approach. The classic acoustic parameters, commonly employed in environmental acoustics as well as eco-acoustic indices such as: ACI (acoustic complexity index), ADI (acoustic diversity index), AEI (acoustic evenness index), NDSI (normalized difference soundscape index), BIO (energy level of biophony), amplitude index (M), and total entropy (H) were calculated. To gain further insights, listening tests, facilitated through virtual reality tools, were conducted, enabling participants to engage in soundwalk experiences. By employing a combination of traditional acoustic methods and innovative soundscape approaches, the paper presents a holistic evaluation of the auditory environment in Sarek National Park. The main contribution of the presented research is providing new data from the unique, geographically inaccessible region of the world, the Sarek National Park. This research not only enriches our understanding of the national park’s soundscape but also offers valuable insights into the interaction between the natural environment and human perception of sound.Keywords:
virtual soundwalk, Lapland, UNESCO, natural soundscape, virtual reality technologyReferences
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2. Aletta F., Guattari C., Evangelisti L., Asdrubali F., Oberman T., Kang J. (2019), Exploring the compatibility of “Method A” and “Method B” data collection protocols reported in the ISO/TS 12913-2:2018 for urban soundscape via a soundwalk, Applied Acoustics, 155: 190–203, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2019.05.024
3. Axelsson Ö., Nilsson M.E., Berglund B. (2010), A principal components model of soundscape perception, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 128(5): 2836–2846, https://doi.org/10.1121/1.3493436
4. Berglund B., Nilsson M.E. (2006), On a tool for measuring soundscape quality in urban residential areas, Acta Acustica united with Acustica, 92(6): 938–944.
5. Borkowski B., Suder-Debska K., Wiciak J., Szlachta A.M. (2021), Acoustic panels inspired by nature, Archives of Acoustics, 46(1): 135–146, https://doi.org/10.24425/aoa.2021.136567
6. Bradfer-Lawrence T., Gardner N., Bunnefeld L., Bunnefeld N., Willis S.G., Dent D.H. (2019), Guidelines for the use of acoustic indices in environmental research, Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(1): 1796–1807, https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13254
7. Bernat S. (2013), Awareness of noise hazards and the value of soundscapes in polish national parks, Archives of Acoustics, 38(4): 479–487, https://doi.org/10.2478/aoa-2013-0057
8. Brown A.L., Gjestland T., Dubois D. (2015), Acoustic environments and soundscapes, [in:] Soundscape and the Built Environment, Kang J., Schulte-Fortkamp B. [Eds.], pp. 1–16, CRC press.
9. Czopek D., Małecki P., Piechowicz J., Wiciak J. (2019), Soundscape analysis of selected landforms on Spitsbergen, Archives of Acoustics, 44(3): 511–519, https://doi.org/10.24425/aoa.2019.129266
10. Czopek D., Lichon S., Małecki P., Wiciak J. (2022), The Soundscape of the Sarek National Park – Case study, [in:] Proceedings of the 24th International Congress on Acoustics.
11. Davies W.J. et al. (2013), A Perception of soundscapes: An interdisciplinary approach, Applied Acoustics, 74(2): 224–231, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2012.05.010
12. De Coensel B., Botteldooren D. (2006), The quiet rural soundscape and how to characterize it, Acta Acustica United with Acustica, 92: 887–897.
13. Farina A. (2014), Soundscape Ecology: Principles, Patterns, Methods and Applications, Dordrecht, Springer.
14. Flowers C., Le Tourneau F-M., Merchant N., Heidorn B., Ferriere R., Harwood J. (2021), Looking for the -scape in the sound: Discriminating soundscapes categories in the Sonoran Desert using indices and clustering, Ecological Indicators, 127: 107805, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107805
15. International Organization for Standarization (2014), Acoustics – Soundscape – Part 1: Definition and conceptual framework (ISO Standard No. 12913-1:2014), https://www.iso.org/standard/52161.html
16. International Organization for Standarization (2018), Acoustics – Soundscape – Part 2: Data collection and reporting requirements (ISO/TS Standard No. 12913-2:2018), https://www.iso.org/standard/75267.html
17. International Organization for Standarization (2019), Acoustics – Soundscape – Part 3: Data analysis (ISO/TS Standard No. 12913-3:2019), https://www.iso.org/standard/69864.html
18. Jiang L. et al. (2022), Ten questions concerning soundscape valuation, Building and Enviroment, 2019: 109231, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109231
19. Kang J. et al. (2016), Ten questions on the soundscapes of the built environment, Building and Environment, 108: 284–294, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.08.011
20. Krause B. (2012), The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places, New York, Little, Brown and Company.
21. LaValle S.M. (2019) Virtual Reality, Cambridge University Press.
22. Mancini S., Mascolo A., Graziuso G., Guarnaccia C. (2021), Soundwalk, questionnaires and noise measurements in a university campus: A soundscape study, Sustainability, 13(2): 841, https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020841
23. Małecki P., Czopek D., Piechowicz J., Wiciak J. (2020), Acoustic analysis of the glacier caves in Svalbard, Applied Acoustics, 165: 107300, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2020.107300
24. Mitchell A. et al. (2021), The International Soundscape Database: An integrated multimedia database of urban soundscape surveys – Questionnaires with acoustical and contextual information, https://zenodo.org/records/10672568 (access: 15.02.2024).
25. Mitchell A., Aletta F., Kang J. (2022), How to analyse and represent quantitative soundscape data, JASA Express Letters, 2(3): 037201, https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0009794
26. Pieretti N., Farina A., Morri D. (2011), A new methodology to infer the singing activity of an avian community: The acoustic complexity index (ACI), Ecological Indicators, 11(3): 868–873, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.11.005
27. Rychtáriková M., Vermeir G. (2013), Soundscape categorization on the basis of objective acoustical parameters, Applied Acoustics, 74(2): 240–247, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2011.01.004
28. Scarpelli M.D.A., Ribeiro M.C., Teixeira C.P. (2021), What does Atlantic Forest soundscapes can tell us about landscape?, Ecological Indicators, 121: 107050, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107050
29. Schafer R.M. (1977), The soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World, Destiny Books, Rochester, VT.
30. Southworth M. (1969), The sonic environment of cities, Environment and Behavior, 1(1): 49–70, https://doi.org/10.1177/001391656900100104
31. UNESCO (n.d.), Laponian Area, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/774/ (access: 21.07.2023).
32. Wang M. (2020), Social VR: A new form of social communication in the future or a beautiful illusion?, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1518: 012032, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1518/1/012032
