Calculation of noise contours for Belgian airports

Abstract

Noise contours are an objective way to represent the long-term noise load from departing and arriving aircraft. Many major European airports have a long history of noise contour calculations and related land use planning. For Belgian airports, several noise contour calculations have been made since the 1970s, but have always been based on limited information. Recently, noise contours for the airports of Brussels, Antwerp, and Ostend have been calculated based on detailed flight information. Long-term noise measurements around Brussels airport validated the accuracy of the Brussels airport noise contours. Up to today, neither for the development of noise contours, nor for the land use planning based on airport noise contours, official guidelines or practices exist, and new houses can still be built around the airports. On the other hand, with international harmonization efforts in mind, Belgian airports are not, as some other European airports restrained by legislation, based on dated technology noise contours, but have taken the opportunity to choose noise descriptors and calculation methods based on current evolutions in the international ways of calculating noise contours, as well as on international guidelines.