Next generation aircraft noise-mapping

Abstract

At CSA, Centre for Sustainable Aviation at KTH Stockholm, several projects have run during the last 4 years. One outcome from this research is the SAFT-program for prediction of aircraft noise contours (noise-mapping) and time-histories in receiving points on ground. SAFT is a versatile and comprehensive tool already including several computational methods such as standard ECACdoc.29 method and more accurate time-stepping simulation-based representations of aircraft sound sources (frequency and direction dependent). The program allows for input of "general aircraft trajectory input" in the sense that either the trajectory data of concern is fitted to the current pre-defined formats or SAFT is easily updated to read a "new" format. Among the pre-defined formats of current version is csv-files prepared from OpenSky Historical database. From these kinds of data thrust and other noise-predictor variables are extracted and applied for noise-mapping. Moreover, SAFT allows for studies of aggregated air-traffic in defined areas as well as of single event flight-trajectories. And for these almost any metric (L, L, L, L, ...) might be extracted together with differences in dB, "Delta-dB", between any two scenarios or individual flights. Could be routing, runway-use, individual flight procedures etc. Anticipated future implementations involve drone trajectories and sound-source representations.