An airport community noise‐impact assessment model

Abstract

A computer model has been developed to assess the noise impact of an airport on the community which it serves. Assessments are made using the Fractional Impact Method by which a single number describes the community aircraft noise environment in terms of exposed population and multiple‐event noise level. The model is comprised of three elements: a conventional noise footprint model, a site‐specific population distribution model, and a dose‐response transfer function. The footprint model provides the noise distribution for a given aircraft operating scenario. This information is combined with a site‐specific population distribution obtained from a national census data base to yield the number of residents exposed to a given level of noise. The dose‐response relationship relates noise exposure levels to the percentage of individuals who would describe themselves as “highly annoyed” by those levels. This information is used to compute a single‐number descriptor of the airport noise environment. In addition to providing a quantitative assessment of the noise environment in the community at large, the model generates a report which lists several demographic variables as a function of noise level which are of interest to community planners and others. These variables include population density, growth rate, average age, average home value, percent homeowners, percent renters, and others. This paper describes the structure and operation of the community response model and presents the results of initial noise impact assessment studies.