2026 / Noise pollution, Sleep

Noise-Induced Annoyance and Sleep Disturbance From Military Aircraft Training

Citation

Olden, J. D., Kuehne, L. M., Kim, A., Jacuzzi, G., & Seto, E. (2026). Noise-induced annoyance and sleep disturbance from military aircraft training. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 159(3), 2498-2512. doi.org/10.1121/10.0043064

Link to file

A military aircraft flying overheadResearchers have long studied how noise from commercial airplanes affects public health, but much less attention has been given to noise from military aircraft. This study focused on communities living near Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington, where EA-18G Growler jets train.

The researchers surveyed 663 residents living in areas with different levels of military aircraft noise. They found that people’s sense of how much noise they were exposed to generally matched actual measured noise levels. Higher noise levels were linked to more annoyance and more sleep disruption.

However, reactions to the noise weren’t just about how loud it was. Reported annoyance is strongly influenced by active or past service in the U.S. Armed Forces and by expressed attitudes toward military operations. The study also found that aircraft noise interfered with everyday activities at home, leading people to adopt various ways to cope.

Overall, the findings show that military aircraft noise can meaningfully affect people’s well-being. They also suggest that standard ways of measuring and managing noise may not fully capture the unique impact of military aviation.

Abstract

While much is known about the public health impacts of civil aviation noise, only limited research has investigated the consequences of military aviation noise, despite it first being recognized over half a century ago. The present study conducted a social-acoustic survey to quantify levels of annoyance and sleep disturbance associated with military aviation noise among communities surrounding Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington State, USA, which serves as a training facility for EA-18G Growler aircraft. We conducted a social-acoustic survey of 663 respondents residing in households across a representative range of military aviation noise exposure levels. We report evidence that perceived exposure to military aviation noise is consistent with modeled annual sound levels across the study region and that noise exposure is positively associated with annoyance and sleep disturbance. We also found that reported annoyance is strongly influenced by active or past service in the U.S. Armed Forces and by expressed attitudes toward military operations. Aviation noise disrupted several routine household activities and triggered different coping strategies in affected communities. By highlighting the implications for human well-being of military aviation noise, this research raises questions about the appropriateness of conventional community noise metrics and mitigation approaches for military aircraft noise.

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