Safety Performance Analysis System (SPAS)
For over 20 years, Volpe has been working closely with aviation safety decision makers in developing and deploying information systems to monitor the performance of aviation certificate holders and aircraft.
Federal Aviation Administration
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Research Provides Snapshot of Alternative Jet Fuel Production
A recent analysis by staff at Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, aims to identify whether and to what extent industry-planned alternative jet fuel production can contribute to aviation carbon neutral growth goals. The international aviation industry has committed to carbon...
Statistical Analysis of Runway Incursions Provides New Insights
A study recently published by Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, provides a deeper understanding of the broader trends that impact the severity of runway incursions. Runway incursions, which are the unauthorized presence of vehicles, pedestrians, or aircraft on runways, can...
Volpe's New Innovation Challenge Elicits Unique Solutions to Emerging Transportation Issues
Volpe recently completed its first-ever Innovation Challenge, a competition for staff to receive funding to develop unique solutions to emerging transportation issues. Recognizing that today's challenges are complex, the Innovation Challenge encouraged staff to work together in multidisciplinary...
Advancing Aircraft Wake Turbulence Research to Achieve Aviation Capacity and Safety Objectives
Wake turbulence—the disturbed air immediately behind an aircraft—is potentially hazardous to following and nearby aircraft if not operationally accounted for. To ensure safety, wake separation standards are devised to alleviate the adverse effect of wake turbulence. This has increasingly become...
Wake Turbulence Research: An Esoteric Field of Study That Pays Big Dividends
The findings from a decade of wake turbulence research are helping reduce airport delays, shorten final approaches to airports, and reduce fuel burn and emissions. Wake turbulence, the movement of air created by an aircraft in motion, may be an esoteric field of study, but the body of knowledge...
Dispatch From the Field—Befriending Buffalo in the Badlands
For over 20 years, Lee has been involved with many of Volpe's acoustics measurement projects, collecting, analyzing, and modeling acoustic data for over 40 National Parks to assess noise impacts from flights overhead.
Volpe's Dr. Kristin Lewis Speaks on the Pursuit of Alternative Aviation Fuels
The aviation community is taking on ambitious goals for alternative jet fuels, tackling complex scientific, economic, and environmental issues to find sustainable alternatives to petroleum in the near future.
Public Launch Slated for New Aviation Environmental Tool
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Volpe are poised to launch a new environmental analysis tool that will offer a robust, integrated way to quantify the environmental impact of aviation—from a single flight up to full-scale global impacts.