Research and study of a methodology to link noise to different types of aircraft in an LTO cycle and application to a real case

Nowadays, issues related to air and noise pollution in the areas surrounding airports are a great concern for the quality of life of their inhabitants. In particular, the noise resulting from aircraft take-off and landing operations is one of the major reasons for physical and psychological stress and is generally considered as one of the main causes of reduced quality of life for residents in these areas. As a result, in many countries around the world a number of regulations aimed at studying, testing and limiting the noise pollution have been developed. Among these, the Italian regulation, which transposes a European Parliament initiative, beginning with law 477/95, issued a series of decrees aimed at identifying a map of the noise climate around each airport. With the help of software for the measurement of the propagation of the airport related noise, it is possible to define an acoustic zoning of the affected territory in relation to the intended use and the associated standard exposure levels. In this research area, this report aims to: • Calibrate a forecast model designed to zone the airport surrounding areas using updated data input; • Isolate aircraft emissions during take-off and landing; • Verify aircraft compliance with current regulations. Therefore, it will be essential to develop a procedure for the recognition of the noise emitted by aircraft in the different phases of flight, through a method that allows noise emissions to be correlated with the type of aircraft in a reliable way. In this regard, we will use the sound measurements provided by the detection unit at Cagliari-Elmas airport, which is equipped with a receiver, a computer system and a data storage centre, and which detects the emissions spectrum, the duration of the event, the SEL, etc.. However, the instruments available in the detection unit are not able to associate the registered sound to the type of aircraft that originates that sound. In order to correlate the noise to its source a mathematical and statistical tool will be required. Therefore, it has been decided to develop a statistical tool, based on empirical observations, which reproduces the overflying aircraft phenomenon. The research took place in two distinct phases: 1. Phase 1: Statistical approach: Observation and modelling of the phenomenon; 2. Phase 2: Implementation of the aircraft-emissions correlation.