NIRS/NST

1
Noise Integrated Routing System (NIRS)NIRS
Screening Tool (NST)

• Airspace Environmental Workshop
• September 20, 2007

2
Todays Objectives

• Background NIRS/NST Overview
• NIRS Screening Tool (NST)
• Conceptual Overview
• Usability/Demonstration
• NIRS
• Conceptual Overview
• Usability/Demonstration

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.

4
Noise Integrated Routing System (NIRS)
NIRS performs large-scale modeling and analysis
of noise impacts associated with current and
planned aircraft routings within a regional study
area.
Principal capabilities

• 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.

Population density and tracks in vicinity of ORD
Noise exposure (DNL)
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 10th
• 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

6
NIRS Screening Tool (NST)
NST performs screening of noise impacts
associated with current and planned aircraft
routings within a small regional study area.
Principal capabilities

• 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
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 (https//www.metronaviat
  ion.com/nirs)

8
NST Conceptual Overview
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

10
NST Sample Case

• 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

11
NST Startup Screen
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NST Project Creation

• 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)

13
NST - Project Creation
14
NST - Project Creation
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NST - Route Creation

• 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

Drawing Hints Snap to runway ends/navaids/existi
ng 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
16
NST - Route Creation

• 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?

17
NST - Route Creation

• 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

18
NST - Route Creation (Example Radar Tracks)
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NST - Route Creation
20
NST - Route Creation (Baseline Routes)
21
NST - Route Creation (Alternative Routes)
Note Alternative routes are on top of baseline
routes.
22
NST - Community Creation

• 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)

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NST - Community Creation
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NST - Community Creation
Census Bureau Tiger Website http//www.census.gov/
geo/www/tiger/ Census Bureau 2006 Second Edition
http//www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tiger2006se/t
gr2006se.html
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NST Community Creation
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NST Community Creation
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NST Community Creation
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NST Community Creation
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NST Noise Calculation
30
NST Noise Results
31
NST Noise Exposure (Baseline)
32
NST Noise Exposure (Alternative)
33
NST Noise Change (Impact)
34
NIRS Conceptual Overview
35
Airspace and Airport Environmental Analysis
Projects
Metron Aviation has been supporting such projects
for over 7 years, primarily in the areas of data
integration, modeling, QA, and impact analysis.

• 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
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.

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

38
NIRS Review (Contd)

• 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

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

EXTERNAL TO NIRS
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.

41
NIRS Terminology (Contd)

• 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

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

END X, Y, Z, V, THR
START X, Y, Z, V, THR
OBSERVER
43
Flight Segment Generation (Contd)

• 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
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)

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)

g
h
e
f
c
d
a
0.30
b
0.50
0.20
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 DNL
Change in Exposure (Minimum)
References
lt 45 dB 45 - lt 50 dB 50 - lt 55 dB 55 - lt 60
dB 60 - lt 65 dB gt 65 dB
-
? 5 dB
EECP EIS, Air Traffic Noise Screening
Procedure, FICON FAA Order1050.1E and FICON
? 5 dB
? 5 dB
? 3 dB
? 1.5 dB
47
Change of Exposure Map Categories
BASELINE DNL (dB)
45
0
40
50
55
60
65
70
0
DEC
INC
TOTAL
PURPLE
Above 65 dB
40
BLUE
TOTAL ABOVE 65 dB Baseline Alternative
45
ALT DNL (dB)
50
YELLOW
GREEN
55
3 dB
60
3 dB
ORANGE
1.5 dB
65
1.5 dB
0
70
RED
48
Impact Table, Impact Graph, and Change Map
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
50
Suggestions or Questions??

• Contact information
• Metron Aviation Inc.
• Mike Graham
• Email graham _at_ metronaviation.com
• Office 703-234-0764
• Mobile [phone]