National project · Environmental monitoring
Ruidómetro
A mobile app to measure, label and map noise pollution with the help of the public
About the project
Ruidómetro (‘Noise meter’) was a citizen science project to identify, categorise and locate sources of noise pollution in cities.
Many residents suffer from noise, especially from night-time traffic or in nightlife areas. Noise pollution can cause sleep problems, stress, irritability, poor concentration, headaches, and changes in blood pressure and heart rate, among other effects.
The project set out to turn mobile phones into noise sensors. With the app, people could record sounds that were disturbing or above legal limits, process them and label their source (building works, traffic, leisure events, etc.) to build a map of noise pollution.
Project objectives
- Identify, categorise and locate sources of noise pollution with the help of the public.
- Build a collaborative map of noise pollution.
- Make the data collected available to researchers and institutions for study and for possible measures against noise.
The role of Ibercivis
Fundación Ibercivis developed the Ruidómetro mobile app and its website, which it used to collect contact details and accounts from people interested in using the app, to help shape its features.
Our activities
- Development of the mobile app to record, measure and label noise.
- A video showing the app’s initial features.
- A form for people to describe their situation with noise and be notified when the app became available.
- Project dissemination: in June 2021 Heraldo de Aragón featured it in an article on collaborative mapping apps for citizen science.
