Adapting for Tomorrow, Today
While climate change is an urgent challenge for every sector, forcing businesses and people to rethink their actions, the airline industry and affected communities are also facing even deeper challenges in attempting to alleviate continued noise, health and climate change impacts. This year’s sessions will take a deep dive into how aviation noise and emissions assessments and research can be translated into policy and action. By reviewing current policies, looking widely at future noise and emissions impacts, and review both climate abatement and adaptation measures, this year’s symposium will connect airports, airlines, regulators, industry developers and community members, to build change makers for tomorrow, today.
Our Program Planning Committee was excited to host you at UC Davis as we discussed these important topics and connected with one another to find actionable solutions.
Keynote
Presented by, Don Scata
Manager, Noise Division, Office of Environment and Energy, Federal Aviation Administration
Don is an aviation professional working in the United States Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) Office of Environment and Energy (AEE), as the Noise Division Manager. His current work is focused on managing FAA's research and policy development regarding aircraft noise effects on individuals and communities; noise modeling, metrics, and environmental data visualization; and noise reduction, abatement, and mitigation. Don spends his time focused on addressing challenging questions ranging in topics from FAA's noise policy review to new entrants.
Don holds a MS in Air Transportation Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a BS in Aviation Management with Flight from the Florida Institute of Technology. Additionally, Don holds a single/multi-engine instrument commercial pilot certificate and was a certified flight instructor.
Leveraging NOMS Technology to Maximize Benefit
Noise and Operations Monitoring Systems (NOMS), at their core, are tools to help airports analyze, track and report on noise issues associated with aircraft activity. Traditionally these systems have only been affordable by large international airports, but advances in technology and a move to the cloud have put them within reach of smaller airports and even some communities. Within this area of on-demand data, how can airports and communities alike best leverage these tools to maximize the benefit to everyone?
Session Chairs: Greg Maxwell, CMT Engineering, Jerry Gerspatch, Port of Portland, Darlene Yaplee, Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance and Concerned Residents of Palo Alto
Presentations:
- From Data to Actions: The speakers will present and engage in a dialogue on how NOMS systems can be used to extract information to inform communities and airports about noise problems as well as pursue noise reduction solutions. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Marie-Jo Fremont, Concerned Residents of Palo Alto
- Presented by: Phil Stollery, Envirosuite
- PHL's NOMS Fly Quiet Departure Analysis: A case study illustrating how Philadelphia is using its NOMS system to analyze Fly Quiet Departure performance and leveraging the data to drive improvements in collaboration with operators and the FAA. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Greg Maxwell, Crawford, Murphy & Tilly
Understanding and Addressing Noise Beyond 65 DNL
The result of the FAA’s Neighborhood Environmental Survey (NES) showed a substantial increase in the percentage of people who are highly annoyed by aviation noise; many who reside in areas beyond the 65 DNL contour of an airport. This session aims to identify the most effective methods (i.e., modeling and monitoring) and metrics to best understand and address noise exposure in those areas that should be considered in future updates to federal policy.
Session Chairs: Darlene Yaplee, Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance and Concerned Residents of Palo Alto, Kallie Glover, Delta
Presentations:
- That What and Why of the BWI Roundtable Virtual Noise and Operations Reports: We plan to describe why we chose NA55 as our primary community impact measure and what we hope to achieve politically and in community awareness with the Virtual Noise Reports. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Jesse Chancellor, BWI RT (Remote)
- Presented by: Jim Allerdice, VianAir
- Is It Time to Retire a 30-Year-Old Aviation Single Noise Metric?: The presentation considers elements needed to bring the FAA noise policy into the 21st Century. The FAA continues to use a 30-year old FICON-determined DNL65 single noise metric despite the industry’s 21st Century aircraft and FAA’s NextGen navigation. The presentation centers on the Airport Noise and Safety Act of 1979 that requires “a single system of measuring noise” which has a “highly reliable relationship between projected noise exposure and surveyed reactions of people to noise…”. It identifies two distinct aviation noise environments with different characteristics and the supporting reasons why a system of measuring noise is needed. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Dr. Cindy Christiansen, Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance
- Research on improving the accuracy and efficiency of aviation noise modeling: This presentation will highlight ongoing research at Georgia Tech aiming to improve the accuracy & efficiency of traditional aviation noise modeling. The speaker will explain how flight trajectory & noise monitoring data from airline & airport partners respectively are being used to help validate current noise modeling methods. Such data are also being used to design noise-optimal departure profiles for airport partners. Additionally, the presentation will showcase recent developments in the rapid modeling of aviation noise metrics. The region of interest surrounding an airport increases manifold when expanding the scope of the analysis beyond 65 DNL dB. Recent use of advanced data analytic techniques has greatly reduced the computational complexity of aviation noise modeling and enabled the rapid evaluation of noise over larger areas. Thus, new mitigation efforts, such as optimizing aircraft trajectories based on airport elevation, or ambient weather conditions can be realized. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Dr. Ameya Behere, Georgia Institute of Technology
Health in aviation impacted communities
The contribution of aircraft emissions, including noise and ultrafine particles, on overall community health is an emerging area of interest. This session presents a case study of overall airport community health as well as discusses emerging associations between ultrafine particles, noise exposures and health outcomes. Attendees will have the opportunity to reflect on mechanisms and implications of aviation related exposures, discuss their potential effects on communities and identify next steps.
Session Chairs: Debi Wagner, University of Washington MOV-UP Advisory, Quiet Skies Puget Sound, Quiet Skies Coalition, Jonathan Rathsam, NASA, Elena Austin, University of Washington
Presentations:
- Ultrafine Particles in the Greater Seattle Area – Findings and Implications for Aircraft Impacted Communities: Airports are important sources of air pollutants that have been linked to adverse health effects. Increasing evidence shows that airports are important sources of ultrafine particles (UFP, ≤ 100 nm diameter), tiny particles that may be particularly toxic because of their size. We used an innovative mobile monitoring design to capture UFP and traffic pollution concentrations for a community-based cohort of elderly in the greater Seattle area established to study aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. Monitoring was extensive, following an intentional study design with 285 drive days and about 29 visits per location balanced across four seasons, all days of the week, and most hours of the day. Monitoring was conducted in the communities surrounding the largest airport in the region, the Seattle-Tacoma (SEA-TAC) International Airport, as well as more distant areas. We estimated annual averages at measurement locations and combined these with geographic covariates (e.g., population density, airport/roadway proximity, land use) to develop predicted spatial exposure surfaces. We found elevated levels of total UFP counts surrounding the SEA-TAC airport and major highways, with elevated levels of the smallest, potentially most toxic, UFP counts exclusively near the airport. Well-designed mobile monitoring campaigns that capture total and small UFPs can be utilized to better understand the differential health effects of aircraft and traffic-related UFP exposures in airport communities. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Dr. Magali Blanco, University of Washington
- Community Health and Airport Operations Related Noise and Air Pollution: The Washington State Legislature wanted to better understand the community health effects of pollution related to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac) operations and therefore asked Public Health Seattle and King County (PHSKC) to look at existing information and summarize what we know to date. We conducted a review of existing literature to understand the nature of pollutants and their affect on human health, and examined the health and demographics of communities within ten miles of the airport to understand their risk of adverse health impacts. A look at available data showed that the majority of people residing in airport communities are Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and face more health and resource disparities compared to the rest of the county. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Dr. Kris Johnson, Assessment, Policy Development & Evaluation, Seattle and King County
- The impacts of aviation noise on health and well-being: Exposure to aircraft noise is associated with several adverse health effects. Frequent flights over residential areas may cause disturbances of activities that require concentration like conversations, reading, and learning. Such interruptions may cause annoyance, irritation, and disappointment. Aircraft noise events can cause sleep disturbance as well. People are usually able to deal with this kind of inconvenience and to (partly) compensate short-term effects of noise-induced sleep disturbance. However, a constant exposure to noise can cause a permanent state of stress. Long-term noise and stress affect the cardiovascular and metabolic system leading to a higher risk for diseases such as heart infarction and diabetes. Children at school may have problems with reading comprehension and memory. In constantly noisy environments, overall quality of life may be reduced affecting well-being and mental health. Complex mechanisms how noise affects our health are explained in several scientific publications that were reviewed within the European ANIMA project and by the World Health Organization. Due to the diversity of noise characteristics (e.g. low frequency, impulses), and appearances in time (intermittent events), we recommend to consider additional noise indicators besides Lden and Lnight. For example, the maximum sound pressure level of a single noise event and the number and time of events during the night are relevant when assessing the impact on sleep. Not only the general population, but also vulnerable populations such as children and elderly people need to be considered in impact assessment. Furthermore, annoyance and sleep disturbance are not only determined by the noise exposure, but also by non-acoustic factors such as residents’ attitudes and expectations regarding the noise source. Therefore, transparent information policy is crucial in communication with residents affected by noise. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The authors present the results of a study conducted within the EU Horizon 2020 project ANIMA (Aviation Noise Impact Management through Novel Approaches) under grant agreement No 769627. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Dr. Sonja Jeram, National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia
- Impact of airport-related pollution on health of near-by communities: LAX as an emerging case study (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Dr. Neelakshi Hudda, Tufts University
Emissions and Air Quality
This session will discuss the current efforts towards reducing and eliminating the use of leaded AvGas, as well as studies regarding airport emissions. The EPA’s endangerment finding on lead emissions from Aircraft and the FAA’s Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) have laid the groundwork for meaningful advancement towards eliminating lead emissions from aircraft operations. The session will also discuss air pollutant emissions at airports, reporting on efforts to create greater awareness and understanding of emissions at airports. This session will include presentations from agency, airport, and non-profit representatives to share the current knowledge and experience related to air emissions.
Session Chairs: Eric Lu, Ramboll, John Pehrson, CDM Smith
Presentations:
- Getting the Lead Out: What an EAGLE Industry-Government Coalition is Doing to Eliminate Leaded Aviation Gasoline Emissions: In February of 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator announced the formation of the Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative, an industry-government coalition committed to removing lead from aviation gasoline by the end of 2030. The formation of EAGLE was in anticipation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finding that lead emissions from aircraft engines that operate on leaded fuel cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare in 2023. EAGLE member agencies including the FAA, have focused on test and evaluation of fuels that would be authorized to safely replace leaded fuel. This short presentation will focus on the progress and challenges of transitioning to lead-free skies. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Robert Olislagers, EAGLE Project
- The Global Transition to Unleaded Avgas: Swift Fuels, LLC has architected the ability for select communities, airfields, pilots, and industry stakeholders to share in the benefits of unleaded avgas nationwide since 2015. It is a complex and multi-dimensional task. Our research and commercial development teams have worked with direct FAA oversight, industry collaboration from oil & gas experts, engine OEM’s, airframe OEM’s, helicopter experts, and a wide array of avgas experts to get an unleaded fuel approved to an international unleaded avgas fuel standard (called ASTM D7547) approved for over 70% of the US piston fleet. Our UL94 unleaded avgas is commercially available nationwide and is endorsed by FAA, ASTM International, Lycoming, Continental, Rotax, Textron Aviation, Robinson Helicopter among many others. Our Swift Fuels team is also actively working with these same teams on the 100% global replacement of toxic leaded avgas. Our 100-octane unleaded fuel is called 100R (10% renewable) and is nearing its market introduction soon. Come hear our plans and commitments to systematically eliminate toxic lead emissions from all general aviation piston aircraft on a global scale. (Presentation PDF)
- Chris D'Acosta, Swift Fuels, LLC
- The Movement towards Sustainable Aviation Fuels (Presentation PDF)
- Tim Pohle, Airlines for America
- Health Benefits from the use of SAFs (Presentation PDF coming soon)
- Dr. Shruti K. Mishra, Sandia National Laboratories
New Entrants
This session will highlight the work that local governments, city planners, and research organizations are doing to prepare for the introduction of new entrants in a way that serves the community’s transportation needs while also minimizing noise impacts.
Session Chairs: Tim Middleton, HMMH, Cindy Gibbs, BridgeNet International, Rachel Burbidge, Eurocontrol
Presentations:
- Overview of Community Response Test Campaign with NASA's X-59 Aircraft: Prohibition of civil supersonic flight over land became federal regulation in 1973, currently codified in 14 CFR Part 91.817. Of concern, the sonic booms that result when aircraft travel at supersonic speeds were deemed an untenable source of noise affecting populations directly under and near flight paths. Fifty years of research in aircraft design and shaping have led to the prospect of low-noise supersonic flight. As part of its Quesst mission, NASA is building an experimental aircraft, the X-59, to demonstrate this capability. After completing flight test and design validation phases, NASA will field a national community testing campaign in order to collect data on how people perceive the sound from low-noise supersonic flight. The collected data will be provided to national and international regulators as they consider replacing the overland speed limit with a noise-based limit. This overview presentation identifies some of the key objectives, plans, and anticipated challenges. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Dr. Nathan Cruze, NASA Langley Research Center
- Minimizing aircraft noise impacts to communities: The re-introduction of supersonic air travel brings with it the novel opportunity of delivering enhanced connectivity while achieving the ever-stringent noise standards governing today’s aircraft. At Boom Supersonic, we are transforming air travel by building Overture, a supersonic commercial airliner optimized for speed, safety and sustainability, and its engine Symphony, both engineered to enable net zero carbon operations and designed to meet the most recent subsonic airport noise levels. This talk will highlight innovation in technologies and design methodologies that Boom is pioneering to minimize aircraft noise impacts to communities. Boom is committed to making supersonic flight something that communities welcome by working closely with communities, airports, regulators, and other stakeholders around the globe. (PPT not available to share)
- Presented by: Dr. Akshay Ashok, Boom Supersonic
- Real World Experience with Electric Aircraft: A discussion of how electric aircraft compare with conventional ICE aircraft in operation and how noise levels are reduced at an urban airport. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Joseph Oldham, New Vision Aviation, Inc
- Designing Urban Air Mobility for Low Noise: Urban Air Mobility has the potential to unlock the skies for daily commuters; simultaneously reducing traffic congestion, carbon emissions and travel times. In addition, this technology provides higher levels of safety and lower noise levels compared to helicopters. This presentation will describe the process and considerations necessary to design, build and ultimately incorporate Urban Air Mobility vehicles into the community. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Ben Goldman, Archer
Climate Change and Aviation
Climate Change is an existential threat to the aviation industry and, in response, the sector is aggressively pursuing pathways to decarbonize. The industry recognizes that urgent action is required to reduce its contribution to climate change as rapidly as possible while maintaining the vital societal and economic benefits of air transportation. This session will explore some of the many diverse ways the sector is striving to reduce its climate change impact, looking at measures such as addressing non-CO2 impacts, developing low-emissions aircraft, novel operational changes and driving uptake of sustainable aviation fuel.
Session Chairs: Rachel Burbidge, Eurocontrol, Ian Jopson, NATS, Eric Lu, Ramboll
Presentations:
- Project NAPKIN - Assessing the role for hydrogen propulsion: Project NAPKIN - New Aviation, Propulsion, Knowledge and Innovation Network - brought together 10 organisations, including airports and aerospace manufacturers, to establish the conditions required to enable the successful introduction of zero-carbon emissions flight in the UK. It published its findings at the end of 2022 and is available here: www.heathrow.com/napkin. (Presentation PDF)
- Presentation by: Matt Prescott, Heathrow Airport
- Contrails and their Impact on Climate: Contrails are considered a major factor in aviation’s impact on climate warming. While the field has a long history of research, there is still considerable work to be done to better understand the solutions available to airlines to mitigate this impact. In this session, you will learn about contrails, their impact on climate, potential solutions to avoid their impact, and the work needed to develop those solutions. (Presentation PDF)
- Presentation by: Jerry Griffin, Delta Air Lines
- Climate change adaptation: strengthening resilience to climate change impacts on aviation: The impacts from climate change directly and indirectly affect the global aviation sector. This presentation will explore climate change vulnerabilities that may affect aviation and possible adaptation options to strengthen resilience. (Presentation PDF)
- Presentation by: Andrea Deitz, FAA
- Wake Energy Retrieval - Formation Flying: Wakes left by aircraft represent a large amount of kinetic energy left behind in powerful twin spirals. When this energy is retrieved by a follower aircraft (typically positioned 1.5NM behind, and at the same altitude), engine thrust can be reduced, leading to lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Airbus demonstrated trip fuel reduction is typically in the range of 5% for the follower aircraft during a first transatlantic flight in Nov2021. Operational integration into Airlines and ATM processes will lead to initiate operations before the end of the decade. (Presentation PDF)
- Presentation by: Philippe Masson, Airbus
- SFO Sustainability: (Presentation PDF)
- Erin Cooke, San Francisco International Airport
Community Engagement
This session has been designed to incorporate presentations that our program committee felt were important for symposium attendees to hear around community engagement.
Presentations:
- FAA Community Engagement Scorecard – Is the FAA’s Community Engagement Improving?: Over the last few years, the FAA has made efforts to improve its community engagement strategy by implementing tools and programs to address community engagement concerns. The presentation highlights the FAA Community Engagement Scorecard (FAACES) project by sharing a summation of responses from 47 community groups on their experience with FAA community engagement for local and national topics in 2020, 2021, and 2022 compared to pre-2020. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by: Darlene Yaplee, Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance (AICA) and Concerned Residents of Palo Alto
- Healthy Schools-From Research to Policy - Community, academic and legislator partnership for understanding and intervention. https://deohs.washington.edu/hsm-blog/healthy-air-healthy-schools A single presentation with three individuals providing their perspective on working together (Trifecta approach) for UFP impact pollution solution. (Presentation PDF)
- Presented by Tina Orwal, Washington Legislature, Debi Wagner, University of Washington MOV-UP Advisory, Elena Austin, University of Washington, Wig Zamore, Mystic View Task Force (MVTF) and Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP)