Annoyance of wind-turbine noise as a function of amplitude-modulation parameters

Amplitude modulation (AM) has been suggested as an important factor for the perceived annoyance of wind-turbine noise (WTN). Two AM types, typically referred to as “normal AM” and “other AM,” depending on the AM extent and frequency region, have been proposed to characterize WTN AM. The extent to which AM depth, frequency, and type affect WTN annoyance is a matter of debate. In most subjective studies, the temporal variations of WTN AM have not been considered. Here, a sinusoidally modulated WTN model accounting for temporal AM variations was used to generate realistic artificial stimuli in which the AM depth, frequency, and type, while determined from real on-site recordings, could be varied systematically. Subjective listening tests with such stimuli showed that a reduction in AM depth, quantified by the modulation depth spectrum, led to a significant decrease in annoyance. When the spectrotemporal characteristics of the original far-field stimuli were included in the model and the temporal AM variations were taken into account by varying the modulation index over time, neither AM frequency nor AM type were found to significantly affect annoyance. These findings suggest that the effect of AM parameters on WTN annoyance may depend on the intermittent nature of WTN AM