Pedantry ahoy! part II: Sound intensity is a measure of power (power through a unit area), and is useful for determining the distribution of sound emissions (d

Pedantry ahoy! part II: Sound intensity is a measure of power (power through a unit area), and is useful for determining the distribution of sound emissions (directivity) from a source. Sound pressure level, is, well, a measure sound pressure. Sound pressure is related to sound intensity providing you know the directivity and distance to the source. This is a nitpick of s nitpick, and SPL is often used interchangeably with the word intensity in lay documents. But if you're reading an acoustic journal article or text book and see the word intensity, just be aware that they are likely not discussing pressure level.