Influences of external error sources on measurements of room acoustic parameters

Correct and precise measurements of room acoustic parameters are of fundamental importance for subjective room impression characterization and for the physical description of the sound field. This thesis investigates external influences on acoustic measurements and errors of the resulting room acoustic parameters. Theoretical models have been developed to predict these errors and indicate the tolerable limits of the described influences. To validate these models, specially designed room acoustic measurements that separate the individual influence factors have been conducted. Noise has been identified as one of the main influence factors and occurs during every measurement. In this thesis the performance of five commonly used stationary noise compensation methods are systematically analyzed depending on the peak signal-to-noise ratio. Impulsive noise that could also occur during the measurement is investigated separately, as the previously introduced compensation techniques are unsuited to handle the influence. The second part of this thesis analyzes the influence of time variances during measurements. Inter- and intra-measurement temperature changes, air movement, and human-sized scattering objects have been investigated.