2.2 Methodology
Three areas based on land use have been selected for this study namely Oja-oba Market (commercial Land use), Ijoka (Residential land use), and The Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA as an Educational Land Use). This research is based on the result of outdoor and indoor sound level measurements for the selected areas. The noise level of each of the selected areas were conducted with the aid of a Digital Sound Level Meter (IEC651 Type 2) which complies with the IEC standard. 15 locations were selected in each area and a random sampling method was adopted.
The instrument was held comfortably in hand with the microphone at a distance of about 1.2 meters above the ground level and 1 m away from the chest. Noise level measurements was carried out three times daily for a period of 7days in each area. Daily measurements were taken in the morning (8:00am -9:00am), afternoon (1:00 pm-2:00 pm) and evening (4:00 pm-5:00pm). Measurements were recorded every 15 seconds for a duration of 2 minutes on a selected spot to account for time fluctuation of the noise levels using multifunctional digital sound level meter (IE651 Type 2). The longitude and latitude of each spot was also recorded with the help of a hand held Global Positioning System (GPS). The Noise level maps was also prepared using Arc GIS 10.5 software to show the areas with low, medium and high noise level.
3. Results and Discussions
Table 1 shows the noise levels within the selected residential neighborhoods at different time of the day for the noise computation of Ijoka area. The analysis shows that Sunday bus stop has the highest noise level with 64.3 dB(A) recorded in the morning, 53.3 dB(A) in the afternoon and 49.6 dB(A) in the evening. This is due to the market located around this area and the presence of traffic noise. It is noted that Olowookere street which has 38.1 dB(A) in the morning, 47.4 dB(A) in the afternoon and 40.7 dB(A) in the evening which is the lowest noise within the selected areas. It can also be seen from table 4.1 that Ileri oluwase, Ayoni C & S, Breeze FM, Oyedepo street and others have noise level that are within the recommended permissible noise limit of 55 dB(A) and 45 dB(A) for afternoon and evening respectively for residential zones.
Table 1 Noise levels in selected areas within Ijoka.