Comparison of measurements of aircraft noise levels and their variability with model results

摘要

Hoare Lea Acoustics were commissioned to predict and assess the impact of different flight patterns associated with a large airport development. As part of a preliminary study for this project, a detailed investigation was commissioned to evaluate the extent to which actual daily and weekly aircraft noise levels around an existing airport differ from long term values derived from computer model predictions. This provided the opportunity to gauge to what extent predictive noise levels can estimate noise levels measured over extended periods, to be used as a context to a wider study. An extensive series of data was recorded for 8 locations in the area surrounding an existing airport for a period of 6 weeks or more in 1 second intervals. Conditions of relatively high temperature and humidity were prevalent during the survey period. Due to the substantial volume of data gathered during the survey process, specialist software was employed to automatically filter and convert the data into meaningful noise ratings. The prediction model used was ECAC Doc 29, as recommended in guidance documents associated with the European Noise Directive. A commercially available software implementation of the model was used to produce calculations over a 2 month period overlapping with the survey. Analysis of the measurement results indicated a strong correlation between the measured and predicted noise levels. This finding supported the use of the chosen aircraft noise prediction methodology to estimate long term upper noise levels arising from aircraft movements.