They aim to alert the public to aircraft noise over Lisbon and they are inviting the public to take part.

The campaign started at 7 a.m. Friday and finishes 24 hours later. Plane noise will be monitored the Campo Grande park, an area directly below the flight path into and out of Lisbon airport.

“Zero will give voice to many residents affected by noise associated with Lisbon airport. There are cases of people who can only sleep with medication, people who cannot work or talk because they are continually being interrupted.

There is even the case of the biggest psychiatric hospital in the country situated in the place most affected by high levels of plane noise.”

“The measuring equipment has been homologated and certified and will take continuous readings which can be viewed live”.

Measurements will assess the two noise indicators expressed in the law (depending on the time of day) but camapigners warn that preliminary measurements indicate that maximum noise levels significantly exceed permitted levels regardless of noise peaks which, unfortunately, legislation does not assess directly.

Zero suggests that the public download noise analysis apps and publish the results.

Lisbon airport currently handles 650 take offs and landings per day but details of noise analysis at the airport are not published.

“Legal noise limits are exceeded in the area around the airport because of planes. A number of primary and secondary schools and universities, the Portuguese Institute of Oncology,as well as the biggest hospital in the country are all situated under the flight path and approach área into the airport”.

“Exposure to noise provokes disturbances in sleep and concentration patterns, with children being the most affected”.

“The government supports expanding the airport’s capacity from 30 to 42 million passengers, implying an increase from 40 to 48 take offs and landings per hour, without any strategic environmental assessment”, said Zero.