NIRS/NST 1 Noise Integrated Routing System (NIRS) NIRS Screening Tool (NST) Airspace Environmental Workshop September 20, 2007

NIRS/NST 2 Today’s Objectives Background & NIRS/NST Overview NIRS Screening Tool (NST) –Conceptual Overview –Usability/Demonstration NIRS –Conceptual Overview –Usability/Demonstration

NIRS/NST 3 Background – Noise Models and Tools Current Noise Models/Tools used by the FAA –Single Airport Focus Airport Equivalency Model (AEM) – aircraft noise screening Heliport Noise Model (HNM) – helicopter noise in the terminal area Integrated Noise Model (INM) – high resolution aircraft noise analysis –Air Traffic Focus Air Traffic Noise Screening Tool (ATNS) – noise screening for single aircraft type/single route analysis NIRS Screening Tool (NST) – noise screening for multiple aircraft types/routes/airports Noise Integrated Routing System (NIRS) – high resolution aircraft noise analysis for regional/multi-airport All models/tools share the same noise engine developed by Volpe.

NIRS/NST 4 Principal capabilities NIRS performs large-scale modeling and analysis of noise impacts associated with current and planned aircraft routings within a regional study area. Population density and tracks in vicinity of ORD Noise exposure (DNL) Noise Integrated Routing System (NIRS) Imports and displays track, event, population, and community data. Enables user to easily define and track large numbers of airspace design elements. Filters data based on user definition of study area and maximum altitude. Enables user to specify the altitude profiles flown, including hold-downs, etc. Applies several layers of data checking and quality control. Provides comparison of noise impacts across alternative airspace designs. Identifies and maps all areas of change. Quantifies mitigation goals and identifies opportunities. Identifies principal causes of change in noise impact. Assembles maps, tables, and graphs for report generation.

NIRS/NST 5 NIRS 6.1 Feature Review 6.1 Volpe/INM Noise engine has been integrated. –New lateral Attenuation –New military aircraft –Noise values are now rounded to the nearest 10 th FSG Enhancements –Support for profile point aircraft –Support for runway elevations –Support for other profile types NIRS Enhancements –Added support for C weighted metrics –Windows compatibility –New Map Features Census TIGER Data Display multiple grids simultaneously

NIRS/NST 6 Principal capabilities NST performs screening of noise impacts associated with current and planned aircraft routings within a small regional study area. NIRS Screening Tool (NST) Based on NIRS 6.1 capabilities: NIRS standard and custom profiles NIRS/INM noise engine Displays GIS data from the US. Census TIGER data. Graphic community definition. Graphic route definition. Compare route changes, fleet changes or day/night changes. Import NIRS and SDAT radar data for assistance in baseline route definition User defined fidelity. Generates noise exposure and noise change graphics by applying FAA criteria. Route and Community Definition Noise Change

NIRS/NST 7 NST/NIRS 6.1 Verification & Validation with INM 6.1 User Documentation updated –NIRS User Guide –NST User Guide Software Distribution –CDs –Secure file transfer site (

NIRS/NST 8 NST Conceptual Overview

NIRS/NST 9 NST – Conceptual Overview Project Creation Route Creation –Baseline & Alternative Routes –Route loading (day/night, aircraft type, number of ops) Community Creation –Could be useful during route creation? Noise Calculation Results –Exposure –Impact –Tables/Reports

NIRS/NST 10 CMH Scenario –Baseline - Three existing right turn departure procedures off of runways 28R/L Primary route to the north Two secondary routes to the northeast and east –Alternative – Same three procedures with a different loading of operations The northeast procedure (040 heading) will now have 15 day operations and 5 night operations. The other procedures will remain the same NST – Sample Case

NIRS/NST 11 NST – Startup Screen

NIRS/NST 12 Specify a study center/radius/elevation/magnetic declination –CMH –50 nmi –815 feet –05W Supporting study data –Airports/Runways (NIRS/INM Database) –Navaids/Fixes (NFDC) NST – Project Creation

NIRS/NST 13 NST - Project Creation

NIRS/NST 14 NST - Project Creation

NIRS/NST 15 Point and click route definition –Use supporting background map layers to show existing traffic patterns, use existing navaids or use another tool and import the routes into NST. Baseline and Alternative Routes –One or more baseline and/or alternative routes –Routes can be arrivals, departures, and/or overflights Arrivals begin away from the airport and terminate on the desired runway end. Departures begin at the start of takeoff runway end and terminate away from the airport Overflights can begin and end away from any runways –Standard or Custom profile support –Route operation loading General ETMS aircraft categories Specific aircraft type assignments Day/Night assignment Number of operations NST - Route Creation Drawing Hints: Snap to runway ends/navaids/existing routes. override snap by holding down the shift-key Zoom in and out by using keyboard short cuts “+” zoom in centered on cursor position “-” zoom out centered on cursor position

NIRS/NST 16 Two basic questions –How are the routes defined today and how do the routes change? (one or more) Latitude/Longitude/Altitude/Heading/Distance Airports/Runway/Fixes/Navaids Standard or Custom Profiles –Level offs for arrivals –Restricted climb for departures –How are the routes used today and how would they be used in the alternative? What type of aircraft? What time of day did/will the operations be flown. (day/night split) How many operations? NST - Route Creation

NIRS/NST 17 CMH Scenario –Baseline - Three existing departure routes off of runway 28R/L Primary route to the north Two lighter routes to the northeast and east –Alternative – Same three routes with new loading of operations The northeast route (040 heading) will now have 15 day operations and 5 night operations. –No climb restrictions Baseline operations –30 day sample of ETMS data –North – average 14 light jets during the day and 2 light jets at night –Northeast – average 1 light jet during the day –East – average 1 light jet during the day and 2 light jets at night NST - Route Creation

NIRS/NST 18 NST - Route Creation (Example Radar Tracks)

NIRS/NST 19 NST - Route Creation

NIRS/NST 20 NST - Route Creation (Baseline Routes)

NIRS/NST 21 NST - Route Creation (Alternative Routes) Note: Alternative routes are on top of baseline routes.

NIRS/NST 22 Point and click community boundary definition –Use supporting background map layers to define community boundaries with NST or import community boundaries via csv file. Community Type –Identify the community type of each community beneath the proposed change action according to its residential characteristics. Use one or more of the following four descriptions for each community: Quiet Suburb (QS) - mostly single family, detached dwellings on lots larger than l/3 acre; few, if any, commercial or industrial sites. Normal Suburb (NS) - mostly single family, detached dwellings on l/4 to l/3 acre lots; scattered commercial areas or apartment buildings. Urban (U) - mostly row houses, apartment buildings, or detached dwellings on small lots; extensive commercial areas. Noisy Urban (NU) - mostly high-rise apartments and other multifamily dwellings near, or mixed with, large commercial developments or industrial sites, but with a substantial residential population. Grid –Grids will be generated over the community. Additionally the user is able to specify the density of the grid. (Default of.5nmi) NST - Community Creation

NIRS/NST 23 NST - Community Creation

NIRS/NST 24 _____ StateCounty NST - Community Creation Census Bureau Tiger Website Census Bureau 2006 Second Edition r2006se.html

NIRS/NST 25 NST – Community Creation

NIRS/NST 26 NST – Community Creation

NIRS/NST 27 NST – Community Creation

NIRS/NST 28 NST – Community Creation

NIRS/NST 29 NST – Noise Calculation

NIRS/NST 30 NST – Noise Results

NIRS/NST 31 NST – Noise Exposure (Baseline)

NIRS/NST 32 NST – Noise Exposure (Alternative)

NIRS/NST 33 NST – Noise Change (Impact) Noise Reductions 45dB <= Base < 60dB; Alt <= (Base–5.0dB) 60dB <= Base < 65dB; Alt <= (Base–3.0dB) 65dB <= Base; Alt <= (Base–1.5dB) Noise Increases 65dB = (Base + 1.5dB) 60dB = (Base + 3.0dB) 45dB = (Base + 5.0dB) Noise Reductions 45dB <= Base < 60dB; Alt <= (Base–5.0dB) 60dB <= Base < 65dB; Alt <= (Base–3.0dB) 65dB <= Base; Alt <= (Base–1.5dB) Noise Increases 65dB = (Base + 1.5dB) 60dB = (Base + 3.0dB) 45dB = (Base + 5.0dB)

NIRS/NST 34 NIRS Conceptual Overview

NIRS/NST 35 Airspace and Airport Environmental Analysis Projects Current and Past Airspace Projects  New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Airspace Redesign  Midwest Airspace Plan (STL)  Northern Utah Airspace Initiative  Omaha Airspace Redesign  Anchorage Terminal Area Redesign  Midwest AirSpace Enhancement (MASE)  CMAAP/CTAP PHL Noise Impact Metron Aviation has been supporting such projects for over 7 years, primarily in the areas of data integration, modeling, QA, and impact analysis.

NIRS/NST 36 National Airspace Redesign Program: Lessons Learned When multiple facilities are involved there is not always a common view of the airspace design (i.e., inconsistency between facilities). All traffic patterns are not always considered in the design. Operational design leans toward major flows, where as environmental must consider all flows. Airspace design tools are not always able to view and analyze large volumes of radar tracks and simulation data which limits their perspective on design issues. More technical training on tools like SDAT, TARGETS, NIRS, NST, etc., is needed. Difficult to reach closure on design « completion ». Personnel turnover is high and structured documentation is difficult to obtain. Environmental aspects of design are not an integral part of the design process; performed sequentially, not in parallel.

NIRS/NST 37 NIRS Review Understand NIRS capabilities. –Multiple airports, thousands of routes, 100,000 or more noise- exposure points –Use of 3-D airspace-design information –Quantifying and locating noise impacts between designs –Determining causes of noise impacts –Data quality assurance and error tracing Review Technical Background –Noise metrics –Flight segment generation –Altitude control –Dispersion –Fleetmix –Annualization –Scoring rules –Impact graphs and maps –Identifying causes of change

NIRS/NST 38 NIRS Review (Cont’d) Review NIRS Inputs –Study area –Population data –Airport and runway data –Traffic data –Supplemental grids –Regional overlays Review NIRS Outputs –Noise maps –Impact tables and graphs –Change maps –Change-analysis tables –Route maps –Event summary tables –Population maps –Exposure files

NIRS/NST 39 NIRS Processing Overview RELEVANT POPULATION POINTS AND OTHER LOCATIONS OF INTEREST CONVERTED SCENARIO DATA POPULATION DATA EXTRACTION TRAFFIC SIMULATION INPUT DATA CONVERSION AND QUALITY CONTROL FLIGHT-EVENT RUNWAYS, ROUTES, AND TIMES FOR EACH SCENARIO CORE NOISE EQUATIONS OUTPUT DATA ASSEMBLY AND SCORING GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE EXPOSURE AT SPECIFIED LOCATIONS SCORING CRITERIA DNL DATA POPULATION, RUNWAY, AND ROUTE DATA CENSUS DATA AREA OF CONCERN SCENARIO DATA: AIRSPACE STRUCTURE AIRFIELD DEFINITION FLIGHT-RULE SUB-SCENARIO TIME FRAME INPUTS OUTPUTS NET IMPACT MEASURES FOR EACH ALTERNATIVE RELATIVE TO BASELINE, PLUS INTER-SCENARIO COMPARISONS POPULATION ROUTES NOISE EXPOSURE CHANGE OF EXPOSURE MAP DISPLAYS: FLIGHT SEGMENT GENERATION AIRCRAFT LOCATION AND STATE = EXTERNAL TO NIRS

NIRS/NST 40 NIRS Terminology Project –All data and computer-supported analysis associated with a given airspace-design effort. Scenario (or design) –A baseline or alternative airspace design to be evaluated. Plan –A specific mode of operation of a given scenario. Usually associated with weather conditions. Traffic –A set (or sub-set) of routes and events to be modelled by NIRS for a given scenario and plan. Example: ORD daytime arrivals. Scenario Year –The year (2000, 2005, etc.) for which traffic levels in a given scenario have been estimated.

NIRS/NST 41 NIRS Terminology (Cont’d) Flight Segment Generation –Integration of AT (route/event) and AEE (noise performance) data to calculate thrust and speed of a specific aircraft following a specific route. Noise Modeling –Calculation of noise exposure at population centroids or other locations. Annualization –Combining the noise exposures due to different plans according to their proportional use throughout the year. Impact Analysis –Comparative assessment of net annual noise impacts associated with two scenarios. Based on AEE-approved rules. Change Analysis –Determining the causes of specific impacts associated with two scenarios

NIRS/NST 42 Flight Segment Generation Objective is to calculate 3-D location, thrust, and speed information. Information required for noise-model calculations: –Distance to observer –Thrust along segment –Speed along segment –Orientation with respect to observer (for on- ground segments) Basic Inputs: –Aircraft type –Operation type –Trip Length –Flight Procedures –Altitude controls at specified nodes –Airport temperature –Airport altitude –Runway data START X, Y, Z, V, THR OBSERVER END X, Y, Z, V, THR

NIRS/NST 43 Flight Segment Generation (Cont’d) NIRS uses user-specified altitude control data and flight equations from the SAE 1845: –Take-off –Climb –Accelerate –Cruise/climb –Level –Descend –Land –Decelerate Constraints: –Calculations adhere to unmodified procedures until altitude control-data requires a variation. –Altitude-control data below 3000 feet AFE is not used. Aircraft type Operation type Trip length Flight procedures Altitude controls at specified nodes Airport temperature Airport altitude Runway data FSG LOGIC USING SAE 1845 EQUATIONS Aircraft state on each segment

NIRS/NST 44 Altitude Control NIRS allows four types of altitude controls at each node on each route. –Be at or above the specified altitude –Be at the specified altitude –Be at or below the specified altitude –The altitude can have any value (no control)

NIRS/NST 45 Track Dispersion Used to model natural variation in flight paths. NIRS aplies 2-D dispersion using center tracks and offset tracks: –Node-by-node halfwidths specify offsets to left and right of center tracks. –Track-by-track weights specify the fraction of traffic assigned to each track. User specified data: –Any number of dispersed tracks on each route; same number to left and right. –Weight profiles for each route. –Halfwidths at each node (may be asymmetric) a b c d e f g h

NIRS/NST 46 Scenario Scoring Methodology EACH POPULATION CENTROID HAS TWO DNL EXPOSURE VALUES FOR: (1) BASELINE SCENARIO, (2) ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO N. CRITERIA TO DETERMINE MINIMUM THRESHOLD OF DNL CHANGE (RELATIVE TO BASELINE DNL): SCENARIOS ARE COMPARED IN TERMS OF POPULATION RECEIVING INCREASES OR DECREASES IN EACH EXPOSURE BAND. Baseline DNLChange in Exposure (Minimum)References < 45 dB 45 - < 50 dB 50 - < 55 dB 55 - < 60 dB 60 - < 65 dB > 65 dB EECP EIS, Air Traffic Noise Screening Procedure, FICON FAA Order1050.1E and FICON -  5 dB  3 dB  1.5 dB

NIRS/NST BASELINE DNL (dB) ALT DNL (dB) 40 3 dB 1.5 dB TOTAL Above 65 dB DECINC 70 TOTAL ABOVE 65 dB: Baseline = Alternative = Change of Exposure Map Categories YELLOW ORANGE RED PURPLE BLUE GREEN

NIRS/NST 48 Impact Table, Impact Graph, and Change Map

NIRS/NST 49 Identifying Causes of Change Multiple scenarios, multiple plans, multiple traffic elements. For a given zone of change of exposure, what traffic is the primary cause? NIRS threads through all appropriate data to quantitatively determin primary causal factors (traffic files). In future, NIRS will thread all the way to the level of primary casual routes and events. Future year Baseline design Future year Alternative-1 design

NIRS/NST 50 Suggestions or Questions?? Contact information Metron Aviation Inc. Mike Graham metronaviation.com Office: Mobile: