Aircraft classification for efficient modelling of environmental noise impact of aviation

Abstract

With the environmental externalities of civil aviation under unprecedented scrutiny, and with the projected significant increase in air traffic demand over the next few decades, fleet-level studies are required to assess the potential benefit of novel aircraft technologies and operational procedures for minimising environmental impact of aviation. Using a statistical classification process, the UK commercial aircraft fleet is reduced to four representative-in-class aircraft on the basis of aircraft physical characteristics, and aircraft noise and engine exhaust emissions. These four representative aircraft, that appropriately capture the noise and emissions characteristics for each category within the UK commercial fleet, are also selected to be used as baseline cases for the high-level assessment of the environmental benefit of novel aircraft technologies. For the particular case of aviation noise, the modelling tools are highly sensitive to the number of aircraft types in the flight schedule. A reduction of about 80% in computational time with relatively minor decrease in accuracy (between-4% and +5%) is observed when the whole aircraft fleet is replaced with the four representative-in-class aircraft for computing noise contours. Therefore, the statistical classification and selection of representative-in-class aircraft presented in this paper is a valid approach for the rapid and accurate computation of a large number of exploratory cases to assess aviation noise reduction strategies.

Validating Aircraft Noise Models

“…This statistical variation of noise measurements explains the possible aggregation of different types of aircraft in noise models, of hundreds of airframes and engines, down to four to nine classes, with a ±6% difference in the calculated areas surrounded by a certain noise level contour [17,18].…”

4D Trajectory Optimization of Commercial Flight for Green Civil Aviation

“…In recent years, some scholars have proposed some new and practical environmental assessment methods for civil aviation. Torija et al raised a method named Environmental Impact Aviation metric (EIAm) [28]. Rodríguez-Díaz et al established a bi-objective model under Constrained Position Shifting (CPS) restrictions, which minimized noise impact, fuel consumption, and delays [29].…”

Real-time identification of aircraft sound events

“…Aircraft noise near airports located close to metropolitan areas is a long-standing environmental problem that affects the wellbeing, health, and quality of life of neighboring populations ( Asensio et al, 2010 , Rodríguez-Díaz et al, 2017 , Sánchez-Pérez et al, 2014 , Tarabini et al, 2014 , Torija and Self, 2018 ). Aircraft noise, beyond being a matter of annoyance, contributes to the increasing incidence of a variety of health issues (e.g., sleep disturbances, cardiovascular and psychological effects, to name few) ( CAA-UK, 2016 ).…”

“…Aircraft noise, beyond being a matter of annoyance, contributes to the increasing incidence of a variety of health issues (e.g., sleep disturbances, cardiovascular and psychological effects, to name few) ( CAA-UK, 2016 ). Some argue that noise pollution deteriorates the relationship between the aviation industry and neighboring communities, and may jeopardize the sustainability of this industry ( Torija and Self, 2018 ).…”