Volpe Center staff led the development of an aerospace standard for predicting airplane noise that was recently published by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Pictured: a flight test with acoustic equipment in the foreground that the Center conducted with NASA and a major U.S. airline in support of algorithm development for this project.

Developing Aircraft Noise Mitigation Standards (FAA)

The Volpe Center supports the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Environment and Energy in the development and evaluation of novel technologies related to the mitigation of aircraft noise. As part of this ongoing support, the Center's Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division works with national and international technical organizations on standards development. Mr. Gregg Fleming and Mr. Christopher Roof of the Division were the principal authors of an aerospace standard recently published by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Aerospace Information Report 5662, Method for Predicting Lateral Attenuation of Airplane Noise, provides a methodology for adjusting aircraft noise model predictions for the lateral propagation of sound between aircraft and receivers on the ground (i.e., people and/or homes, schools, etc.). The standard culminates several years of noise measurements, analysis, and collaboration; development was supported by staff from the NASA Langley Research Center, the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, Boeing, and Airbus, among other organizations.

The reduction of airport noise is an important issue in communities across the country and the world, and noise prediction models have been essential to the multi-million-dollar land-use planning activities related to airports. (Between 1982 and 1999, approximately $4.3 billion was spent on noise mitigation activities around U.S. airports.) The Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division designed and developed, and continues to update and maintain, FAA's Integrated Noise Model, the standard tool for airport noise modeling and impact assessment in the vicinity of airports in 33 countries. As research in this area advances, future noise prediction models will produce significantly more accurate noise contours, enabling more efficient use of airport-noise mitigation funds.