Acoustic characterization and modeling of padel courts in urban residential environments
Journal
Sound & Vibration
ISSN
15410161
Date Issued
2026-07-22
Author(s)
Vasquez, Jose Gabriel
Ayala, Paulina
Garcia, Marcelo V.
Type
Article
Abstract
Padel courts are now common in many residential and mixed-use projects, but the published measurement base for their outdoor noise impact is still small. Recent work has flagged siting conflicts and padel-related acoustic concerns, yet few studies place padel and tennis side by side under the same site conditions. This paper addresses that gap through field measurements and acoustic modeling at one mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A padel court and a tennis court were each recorded for a single 15-minute period, and the resulting levels fed an outdoor propagation model. At 10 m, the padel court reached LAeq = 64.2 dB(A) and LAmax = 71.3 dB(A), against LAeq = 58.4 dB(A) and LAmax = 63.6 dB(A) for tennis. Padel showed stronger octave-band content at mid- and high frequencies, consistent with ball-wall impacts and reflections off its rigid glass and metal enclosure. These levels were then carried into a CadnaA model built on ISO 9613-2 to trace propagation toward the nearest residential facades. With 4 m barriers around the padel courts, predicted facade levels at the most shielded positions fell by 4 to 5 dB(A). A single site and one recording per sport bound these conclusions: they describe a case study rather than a general emission standard for padel. What the data do provide is a matched padel-versus-tennis comparison and a worked example of how a small field set can steer acoustic planning early in residential design. Copyright © 2026 Author(s).