Noise Pollution Impact of Airport Operations

 

    The everyday operations of airports create a large amount of noise. The main source of noise comes from aircraft entering the traffic pattern as well as arrivals and departures from the airfield. The typical airline jet generates between 120 and 140 decibels during operation and any sound level above 85 decibels has the potential to cause hearing damage (Mayer, 2019). The noise produced from aircraft causes annoyances to the local population, impedes sleep, stresses barn animals, and interferes and distracts students in class (Visser et al., 2009). Because of this, many airports have noise abatement procedures in place to mitigate the impact of excessive noise that aircraft produce on the local area (Visser et al., 2009). The FAA established the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 to standardize and assist airport operators establish noise abatement procedures which can be found in the 14 CFR part 150 (FAA, n.d.). Noise abatement procedures include: identifying noise-sensitive areas like neighborhoods, schools, or certain agriculture areas, having established quiet hours, alterations to arrivals and departures to prevent overflying populated areas, configuring your aircraft on approach to prevent "dragging it in" or reducing a high drag high rpm approach, and much more (ERAU, 2021). High levels of aircraft noise have been found to stress farm animals as well as humans. In the study conducted by Elsevier in 2019, it showed that excessive noise produced by low-flying aircraft in Brazil generated stress for the local wildlife and affected reproduction causing their population to diminish. Many of these areas have now been identified as natural protected areas by the Brazilian government and are subject to regulations on noise abatement.

   Here at my local airport, we operate on 3 parallel runways, 18/36 Left, Assault, and Right. Four miles north of runway 36R there is a tribal school directly in line with the traffic pattern. Our noise abatement procedures require us to avoid the school by one nautical mile in all directions in the traffic pattern during the school day to prevent distracting the students. The goal of noise abatement procedures is the maintain a healthy relationship with the populous that surrounds the airfield. Maintaining a positive working relationship with the people that live around the airport. 

References

Elsevier. (2019). Airport noise and wildlife conservation: What are we missing? ScienceDirect. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2530064419300598.

ERAU SpecialVFR. (2021). Noise Abatement Procedures. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-5jEnZd6zk&ab_channel=ERAUSpecialVFR.

FAA history of noise. FAA History of Noise | Federal Aviation Administration. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/policy_guidance/noise/history

Mayer, M. (2019, March 2). What is the decibel level of a jet plane? Sciencing. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://sciencing.com/decibel-level-jet-plane-5375252.html

Visser, H. G., Hebly, S. J., & A., W. R. A. (2009). Management of the environmental impact at airport operations. Nova Science Publishers.