What can be done to make noise assessments more understandable for the general public - DNL or CNEL is just too complicated?

The Day-Night Sound Level (DNL) and the Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) are used in federal environmental evaluations because they have been shown to most correlate to public annoyance response curves. As these cumulative noise levels increase, the level or annoyance among those exposed correspondingly increases. However, neither cumulative metric adequate reflects the experience of the person exposed to noise events generated by aircraft.

The community experience to aircraft noise events is often dealt with through the application of supplemental metrics which are selected to assist in public understanding of what conditions are, and what they might be expected to be under alternative future scenarios. The single event Maximum Noise Level, the number of events within various noise level ranges, and the number of events within hearing range are metrics which Landrum & Brown has applied in various studies. Other metrics may be tailored to specific uses or impacts, such as nighttime awakenings, environmental justice considerations, and seasonal variations to event frequency.