Prevailing wind direction should guide where one lives relative to noise sources

Evidence

Wind can also cause refraction effects because the velocity of sound within the medium is unaffected by the velocity of the medium. The velocity of a sound wave in a moving medium, when viewed from a fixed point, is the sum of the two velocities, so that it is increased when the sound is moving with the wind and is reduced when it is moving against the wind. As the velocity of air is generally less at ground level compared with the velocity higher up (due to the effect of the friction of the ground), sound waves are bent upward or downward depending on their direction relative to the wind. The degree of direction change depends on the rate of change in wind velocity as a function of height; a faster rate of change results in a greater direction change. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 340 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Wind gradients refract sound toward slow regions and extend its range; Distant wind can be heard across intervening stillness without being felt — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 79; Wind speed gradients, not wind itself, refract sound and break reciprocity (+4 more)

Related

• Wind speed gradients, not wind itself, refract sound and break reciprocity (similarity 0.96)
• Wind gradients refract sound toward slow regions and extend its range (similarity 0.94)
• Wind gradients bend sound waves and explain downwind audibility (similarity 0.94)
• Wind bends sound waves because air velocity changes with height (similarity 0.93)
• Atmospheric physics creates striking asymmetries in how sound travels (similarity 0.93)
• Downwind sound is bent downward and waveguides along the ground, gaining intensity (similarity 0.91)
• Sound bends like light because temperature changes its speed. (similarity 0.89)
• Wind refraction and humidity structure alter sound propagation in air (similarity 0.87)
• The same wind sound expresses one’s happiness or unhappiness. (similarity 0.87)
• A moving medium shifts sound speed, and speed gradients bend waves by refraction (similarity 0.84)
• Sound refracts toward slower-speed regions over long outdoor distances (similarity 0.83)
• Living upwind of a noise source materially reduces the noise you receive. (similarity 0.82)
• Sound bends around obstacles through a process called diffraction (similarity 0.81)
• Waves always refract toward regions of slower wave speed (similarity 0.80)
• The first arriving sound wave dominates perceived direction of a source (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Wind gradients refract sound toward slow regions and extend its range #corroborates (0.95)
• Wind bends sound waves because air velocity changes with height #corroborates (0.95) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 340
• Wind gradients bend sound waves and explain downwind audibility #corroborates (0.92)
• Wind speed gradients, not wind itself, refract sound and break reciprocity #corroborates (0.90)
• Atmospheric physics creates striking asymmetries in how sound travels #expands (0.80)
• Distant wind can be heard across intervening stillness without being felt #expands (0.75) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 79