Mixed analysis-synthesis approach for estimating airport noise from civil air traffic

This paper presents an important upgrade of a modelling tool devised by the authors for estimating aircraft noise around civil airports, which is based on a best-practice noise computation method and flight tracking data collected from the Internet and complemented by datasets of aircraft models, runways, and terrain elevation. Targeting more accurate noise predictions, the upgraded model introduces reasoned degrees of freedom in the standard flight procedures, and the tracked altitudes and speeds of each flight event are used to fit these modified procedures, which leads to an original mixed analysis-synthesis approach. Additional improvements include better runway assignment and consideration of actual weather conditions. Comparison of July 2019 results with official data for Heathrow, Gatwick and Schiphol airports shows an improved noise prediction, with an average underestimation lowered to 1.5 dB(A) for exposure-based metrics. Therefore, this upgraded modelling tool can be a reliable support to civil aviation authorities and policy-makers.