Baseline ambient sound levels in Dry Tortugas National Park

FP-01/JD8AC
VX-82/JM008
VX-K6/LLE72
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Park Service (NPS), with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Transportation, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) are developing Air Tour Management Plans (ATMPs) for all national parks with commercial air tours, with the exception of the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP), tribal lands within or abutting the GCNP, air tour operations flying over or near the Lake Mead National Recreation Area solely as a transportation route to conduct an air tour over GCNP, Rocky Mountain National Park, and national park units located in Alaska. An important area of technical support is the determination of representative baseline ambient sound levels for the study parks. During the summer (August - September 2008) and winter (February – April 2009), the National Park Service conducted baseline ambient sound level measurements in Dry Tortugas National Park. Up to one month of acoustical and meteorological data were measured at one site within the park. This document summarizes the results of the noise measurement study.