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Loudness is the subjective magnitude of a sound as perceived by human listeners and it plays an important role in many human activities. It is determined jointly by the physical characteristics of a sound and by characteristics of the human auditory system. A model for predicting the loudness of sounds from their physical spectra was developed in the laboratory of Professor Brian Moore with support from an MRC programme grant.
The model formed the basis for an American National Standard and is currently being prepared for adoption as a standard by the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO). In addition, the model has been widely used in industry worldwide for prediction of the loudness of sounds, for example: noise from heating, ventilation and air-conditioning; inside and outside cars, and from aircraft; and from domestic appliances and machinery.
Pratt & Whitney (one of the world's largest makers of aircraft engines) has developed a process, "Design for Variation" (DFV), that uses Bayesian methods developed at Sheffield for analysing uncertainty in computer model predictions within the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines. The DFV process significantly improves cost efficiency by increasing the time an engine stays operational on the wing of an aircraft, so reducing the time that the aircraft is unavailable due to engine maintenance. DFV also saves costs by identifying design and process features that have little impact on engine performance, but are expensive to maintain. Pratt & Whitney estimate the DFV process to generate savings, for a large fleet of military aircraft, of [text removed for publication].
The UK Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) has used these methods in their risk analyses, for example in assessing risks of exposure to pesticides.