Researchers at the University of Calgary hope to pin down the source of a troublesome hum in Ranchlands with the help of a phone app.

Residents in the northwest community have complained about a "hum" or low frequency moan for several years.

Residents in a northwest community have complained about a "hum" or low frequency moan for several years. 0:09

"The biggest problem we've got in Ranchlands is that only some people can hear the hum, and it bothers people that they're hearing the hum and other people can't hear it," said Mike Smith, who teaches computer and electrical engineering at the University of Calgary.

An app being developed to track the Ranchlands hum is currently under development by a team at the University of Calgary. An early version has been released to some participants, but the app should be ready by September. (Submitted by Mike Smith)

"We wanted to give people a simple mechanism to record the hum so they could play it back and show people that it really exists."

Smith and his students are hoping to capture the approximately 40-hertz hum throughout the community by developing an Android Smartphone app to record it. He hopes it will be ready by September.

The project is getting help from an exchange student working with Mitacs Globallink and is building on work previously done by Smith's students.

The app measures the frequency of the sound waves. The lower the frequency becomes, a wider area is required to detect it, says Smith.

Network needed

He said putting a network across the community would help to collect the sound so researchers could analyze it.

They'll have to figure out if there is more than one problem noise source, then investigate whether they can match the noise and vibration in someone's home to somewhere in industry.

"We're interested in is it possible to use a couple of microphones and pick up the sound and use a home theatre system and broadcast the anti-noise hum and do a sound cancelation, but that's very difficult," said Smith.

Smith says while the research is fascinating, it's also important for residents in Ranchlands.

"If they can't sleep, it's a health issue," he said.

As for hunches about where the noise may be coming from, Smith says there are a few.

"People's basements might be vibrating from some vibration and they hear it in their house but people next door, their basement is something different so they don't hear it," he said.

People interested in taking part in the project can contact TheHum@ucalgary.ca to find out how to participate and how to get the app. There is also a website to help track mysterious hums in the Calgary area.