It’s been two years since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Volpe publicly released the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) version 2a, an environmental analysis tool that offers a robust, integrated way to quantify aviation’s environmental impact.

Now boasting hundreds of users in government, industry, and academia, AEDT is being used to support policy decisions, research, and environmental reviews.

A software system that dynamically models flights, AEDT takes into account aircraft weight, performance characteristics, and weather conditions, and calculates the resulting noise, dispersion of air pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions, and fuel burn.

Users then analyze the trade-offs between noise, fuel burn, and emissions, and quantify the potential environmental consequences of changes in a flight's trajectory or aircraft design.

New Version of AEDT

The next version of AEDT, version 2b, is currently in development and is scheduled to be released by the FAA on May 29, 2015. AEDT 2b will replace AEDT 2a, as well as airport noise and emission dispersion modeling tools the Integrated Noise Model (INM) and the Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS).

The new version has interactive menus, wizards, and enhanced geospatial features that guide users from the beginning of an analysis through the calculation and review of results.

AEDT Video Now Available

A video is now available on YouTube highlighting the use of key tool features and functionality implemented in AEDT 2b.

The video introduces the AEDT 2b user interface and shows the major work areas. The video demonstrates the following:

• The new menu structure
• Mapping and GIS capabilities
• User customization options

To learn more, visit the AEDT website.