Aural detectability of sounds in background noise
How likely a listener is to detect a sound in background noise, from signal-to-noise ratios in auditory filters and signal-detection theory. Used for aircraft, drone and urban air mobility noise. Not standardised.
There is no standard; the reference model is Fidell et al. (1974). Open-source implementations of it:
- MATLAB refmap-psychoacoustics (also Python)
Earlier editions or related models: refmap-psychoacoustics (MATLAB, Python; Rizzi et al. (2025); MATLAB and Python).
Editions and who implements them
| Date | Edition | Status | What changed | Implemented by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-07 | Rizzi et al. (2025) | published | NASA's use of the model in annoyance assessments of urban air mobility, with audibility as a factor. | refmap-psychoacoustics |
| 1974 | Fidell et al. (1974) | published | Model paper. | refmap-psychoacoustics |
Implementations
| Project | Edition | Functions | Validation (as stated) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| refmap-psychoacoustics MATLAB Python | Rizzi et al. (2025) MATLAB and Python | auralDetectability, aural_detect | not stated | The same functions; the README cites this paper for the NASA development of the model. |
| refmap-psychoacoustics MATLAB Python | Fidell et al. (1974) MATLAB and Python | auralDetectability, auralDetectFromLeq, aural_detect, aural_detect_from_lzeqt | not stated | Code headers describe the Fidell, Pearsons & Bennett (1974) model as "developed further by NASA" and cite "Rizzi, SA et al, 2024"; the README cites Rizzi et al. (2025), Journal of Aircraft, doi:10.2514/1.C038188. |
Projects in bold and other established projects come first, then newly released, developing and legacy ones. Validation is what each project says about its own testing. The details are below, and the kinds of evidence are explained on the About page.
How they were validated
As reported by each project; LISQM has not run the code. Two implementations that agree can still share the same error. Kinds of evidence.
None of these projects says how its code was validated.
References
- Fidell, S., Pearsons, K. S., & Bennett, R. (1974). Prediction of aural detectability of noise signals. Human Factors, 16(4), 373–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872087401600405
- Rizzi, S. A., Christian, A. W., Letica, S. J., & Lympany, S. V. (2026). Annoyance model assessments of urban air mobility vehicle operations. Journal of Aircraft, 63(1). Published online 2025-07-02. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.C038188