Decibel

Decibel

1) Logarithmic measure of noise (see also dB) on the decibel scale. An increase/decrease of 10 dB equates to a doubling/halving of the noise level. A weighted scale (ie dBA) is used for comparative purposes The human threshold of pain occurs at around 140 dB(A).

A jet plane just overhead is around 110 dB(A), a heavy lorry passing close by would be around 85/87 dB(A) while a very quiet room would record around 42 dB(A).

Source: David Lowe. The Dictionary of Transport and Logistics. Kogan Page, 2002. – P.61 (288 p.)