Community aircraft noise assessment to determine structural noise attenuation

Abstract

A community aircraft noise assessment was conducted for the City of New York for a major waterfront residential development (7000–8000 units) proximate to Kennedy International Airport in Queens. The development site lay beneath one flight path and immediately to the west of a second. Characterization of the site for aircraft noise by monitoring alone was difficult since the overflying runway was typically used during inclement weather during which monitoring conditions were at their worst. Thus, a combination of monitoring and modeling was conducted to determine the noise exposure of proposed structures and open space. Aircraft noise was monitored at three locations on the site. Modeling of a worst case scenario was performed using the aircraft noise database from the integrated noise model (INM). The model was “calibrated” by simulating specific aircraft flights, predicting to monitored locations and comparing the predicted and monitored noise levels. These predicted levels were used to determine the degree of structural noise attenuation required to meet New York City's interior residential noise requirements of 45 dBA.