7.2 The Airport and the Environment
Noise pollution in my opinion is one the largest environmental
impact airports are facing today. Airports surrounding environment such as
residences, schools, and hospitals are affected by noise pollution. Aircraft flight
paths also expose communities to aviation noise, and airspace redesign efforts,
which are intended to improve aviation safety and efficiency may expose previously
unaffected communities to raising concerns in those communities about higher noise
levels. For example, the Schiphol Airport, located near Amsterdam in The
Netherlands is one of the most noise sensitive major airports in Europe. For the
past few decades, proposals for new infrastructure developments or expansion operations
have consistently met with community opposition due to noise pollution. The noise
nuisance problem at Schiphol airport has been elevated to a major political
issue in The Netherlands.
One strategy the airports are using during the actual
day-to-day operation are having the air traffic controllers organize arrival
and departure flows and provide guidance and separation of approaching and
departing aircraft. The main objective is to make optimal use of the available
runway capacity, and tactical processes such as sequencing, radar vectoring and
holding. Another strategy goes straight to the source, aircraft design. The aircraft
design itself is the most basic level at which aviation related environmental
impact reduction can take place. The main efforts of noise and emission
reduction take place during the design stage of the aircraft or engine. For example,
improvements in the design concerning the aerodynamic efficiency will reduce
fuel burn, especially during the cruise phase. If this improvement also
improves the climb performance, the optimal departure trajectory may change as
well. Better climb performance also improves noise performance.
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