Choice of frequency weighting for the evaluation of weapon noise

This paper describes a laboratory study to choose an appropriate frequency weighting network for predicting the annoyance caused by the noise from small, medium, and large weapons. The results indicate that the annoyance of all three weapon types is the same if the blasts are heard at identical A-weighted SEL's. On the other hand, equal C-weighted SEL's result in large differences in annoyance between the weapon types. The implications of these results for outdoor noise criteria depend on the assumption concerning window condition. If one assumes that people hear the blasts predominantly through open windows, then A-weighted criteria should be appropriate for all the weapon types without any correction (penalty or bonus) for weapon type. On the other hand, if the blasts are heard predominantly through closed windows a penalty of about 5 dB should be applied to the outdoor levels of the large weapons to account for the poorer low-frequency attenuation of the windows.