Watts, Gregory R.Pheasant, Robert J.Horoshenkov, Kirill V.Ragonesi, L.2017-03-092017-03-092009-11Watts G, Pheasant R, Horoshenkov K et al (2009) Measurement and subjective assessment of water generated sounds. Acta Acustica united with Acustica. 95(6): 1032-1039.900009319001494090003501http://hdl.handle.net/10454/11576YesThere is increasing concern with protecting quiet and tranquil areas from intrusive noise. Noise reduction at source and barriers to transmission are mitigation measures often considered. An alternative is to attempt to mask or distract attention away from the noise source. The masking or distracting sound source should be pleasant so that it does not add to any irritation caused by the noise source alone. The laboratory measurements described in this paper consisted of capturing under controlled conditions the third octave band spectra of water falling onto water, gravel, bricks and small boulders and various combinations. These spectra were then matched with typical traffic noise spectra to assess the degree of masking that could be expected for each option. Recordings were also taken during each measurement and these were used later to enable the subjective assessment of the tranquility of the sounds. It was found that there were differences between water sounds both in terms of masking and their subjective impact on tranquility.en© (2009) S. Hirzel Verlag/European Acoustics Association. The archived file is not the final published version of the article. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/dav/aaua or https://doi.org/10.3813/AAA.918235. Readers must contact the publisher for reprint or permission to use the material in any form.Water generated sounds; Noise reduction; Noise masking; Subjective assessment; TranquilityArticlehttps://doi.org/10.3813/AAA.918235