1 (6)

AIR TRAFFIC: NOISE IMMISSION, RESIDENTAL AREAS UDC 534.83

Key word: Aircraft noise, air traffic, noise immission, residental areas, test method

CONTENTS Page 1 SCOPE

1 SCOPE 1 This document specifies a NORDTEST Method for measure-
2 FIELD OF APPLICATION 1 ments of outdoor air traffic noise immission in residential
areas.
3 REFERENCES 2
4 DEFINITIONS 2 The method specifies procedures for outdoor measurements
4.1 A-weighted sound pressure level L,, in dB 2 of both maximum sound pressure levels and time-integrated
4.2 Noise descriptor 2 sound levels.
4.3 Maximum A-weighted sound pressure 2
level LpAmax, in dB
4.4 Sound exposure level LX, in dB 2
4.5 Noise exposure indices: DENL, EFN, 2 FIELD OF APPLICATION
FBN in dB The method provides guidelines for measurements of air traf-
4.6 Elevation angle 8 fic noise immission in residential areas from airborne aircraft
4.7 Hemi-free field and aircraft during landing and take-off operations (see defin-
4.8 Flush-mounted microphone itions, Section 4.10).
4.9 Flight path, flight track
4.10 Take-off, landing Guidelines for the measurement of aircraft noise from other
4.11 Maximum Emission Angle kinds of operations are not included in this document. In the
4.12 Cloud cover Nordic countries such measurements of noise from ground
4.13 Background noise activities, e.g. ground run-up of engines and terminal noise,
5 MEASUREMENT OF OUTDOOR AIR TRAFFIC may be performed according to the relevant assessment
NOISE IMMISSION method, e.g. the Nordic method for measurement of noise
5.1 Principle from industrial plants.
5.2 Instrumentation
5.3 Microphone positions The method is applicable both for measurement of maximum
5.4 Measurement conditions sound levels and for measurement of time-integrated sound
5.4.1 Traffic conditions levels in residential areas caused by air traffic operations. The
5.4.2 Meteorological conditions purpose might be:
5.4.3 Background noise - Control with the observance of noise-related air traffic
5.5 Accuracy of results restrictions (noise monitoring)
5.5.1 Measurement accuracy - Measurements to be used as basis for land-use plan-
5.5.2 Traffic conditions ning
5.5.3 Meteorological conditions
- Measurements in connection with the authorities’ treat-
5.6 Presentation of results ment of noise complaints

Published by NORDTEST Tekniikantie 12 FIN 02150 ESPOO FINLAND Phone +358 9 455 4600 Fax +358 9 455 427
Internet: http://www.nordtest.org
ISSN 0283-7145
NORDTEST METHOD NTACOU 075 2

3 REFERENCES where pA (t) is the instantaneous A-weighted sound pres-

IS0 1996/1, 1st Ed., Acoustics. Description and mea-
[1]
surement of environmental noise. Part 1: Basic quan-
tities and procedures.
[2] IEC Publication 651 1979 Sound Level Meters.
[3] Nordtest-method NT ACOU 039: Road Traffic: Noise.
[4] IS0 3891, 1 st Ed., Acoustics. Procedure for describing
aircraft noise heard on the ground.
sure, t2 - tI is a stated time interval long
enough to encompass all significant sound of
a stated event,
p. is the reference sound pressure 20 µPa
t0 is the reference duration (1 s).
This definition is according to [1].

[5] World Meteorological Organization: Manual on Codes

No.306 4.5 Noise exposure indices: DENL, EFN, FBN in dB
A noise exposure index is a measure developed from a noise
scale to quantify noise over a defined period of time; an index
can incorporate weightings of the single-event levels accord-
4 DEFINITIONS
ing to the time of day or night at which they occur and/or
4.1 A-weighted sound pressure level L,, in dB weighting of the number of events occurring within the time
Sound pressure level of A-weighted sound pressure is given period. The time limits and weightings are chosen to conform
by: with public opinion, as determined from surveys.

In the Nordic countries DENL (Day Evening Night Level) is

L
where pA is the root mean square sound pressure de-
termined by use of frequency-weighting net-
work “A” (see IEC publication 651),
PO is the reference sound pressure 20 µPa.
This definition is according to [1].
4.2 Noise descriptor
A quantity used to represent the noise of a single event, such
as an aircraft fly-over as experienced by an observer.
used in Denmark and Finland, EFN (effektivt flystØynivå) and
MFN (maximum flystØjniveau) are used in Norway, and FBN
(flygbullernivå) is used in Sweden.
DENL, EFN and FBN are based on LAE with a time-of-day
weighting which for practical reasons is almost the same in
the four countries. MFN is based on LpAmax.
4.6 Elevation angle p
The angle from a measurement point between the ground
plane and the direction to the aircraft corresponding to the
point of closest approach.

4.3 Maximum A-weighted sound pressure level bmax,

in dB 4.7 Hemi-free field

bA max is the maximum value of l+ during a noise event mea- An ideal free field exists if no sound reflecting surfaces exist.
sured with a time-weighting which ensures that the true lf the only sound reflecting surface is the ground, this is de-
maximum value is measured. noted a hemi-free field.

Note: Normally the time-weighting “S” (slow) will be

4.6 Flush-mounted microphone
usable, but in special cases with low altitude air-
craft or high flight speeds it might be necessary to A microphone with a diameter less than 13 mm placed as
use time-weighting “F” (fast) to obtain a represen- close as possible (less than 1 cm) to the outer face of the build-
tative value of bArnax. Time-weighting “F” must be ing under consideration.
chosen if the duration of the noise event does not
exceed approximately 20 s. The duration is de- If the outer face is not hard, or if it is not flat within ± 0.01 m
fined as the time interval during which the sound within 1 m from the microphone, the microphone can be
pressure level is within 10 dB of the maximum mounted in a plate 25 mm or less thick and with edge dimen-
level. sions not less than 0.5 x 0.7 m* (see Nordtest NT ACOU 039
[3]).
4.4 Sound exposure level LAE, in dB
The sound exposure level of a discrete noise event is given by 4.9 Flight path, flight track
the formula
Flight path is the path of the aircraft through the air defined in
t three dimensions.
2
PA* (t)
LAE = lOlg+- dt
0 po2 Flight track is the vertical projection of the flight path on the
s t1
ground plane
NORDTEST METHOD
4.10 Take-off, landing
Take-off is an operation of an aircraft beginning with the ac-
celeration along the runway to be air-borne followed by climb-
out within the airport control zone.
Landing is an operation of an aircraft beginning during the ap-
proach inside an airport control zohe and ending after the air-
craft has decelerated on ground and is leaving the runway.
4.11 Maximum emission angle
The angle between the direction of flight and the direction of
maximum radiated noise.
4.12 Cloud cover
The expression “cloud cover” from the meteorological
nomenclature gives in eighths the quantity of the total sky co-
vered by clouds no matter of which type or at which altitude.
8/8 corresponds to the full sky being covered by clouds [5].
4.13 Background noise
Noise from all other noise sources than the aircraft under con-
sideration. Background noise includes electrical noise from
the measurement equipment.
5 MEASUREMENT OF OUTDOOR AIR TRAFFIC NOISE
IMMISSION
In connection with outdoor measurements of air traffic noise
the main object is to specify microphone positions to be used
under various conditions and to define background noise re-
quirements during measurements of single noise events.
5.1 Principle
Two different noise descriptors may be used for quantification
of air traffic noise in residential areas within the Nordic coun-
tries.
- Maximum A-weighted sound pressure level L, max
- The sound exposure level LAE which forms the basis of
the indices for noise exposure in the Nordic countries
(DENL, EFN, FBN)
The guiding principle for measuring both descriptors is to po-
sition the microphone in such a way that the sound pressure
is unaffected by sound reflections from other surfaces than
the ground and unaffected by other sound sources than air-
craft for the time period necessary to determine the actual de-
scriptor.
5.2 Instrumentation
The instrumentation shall comply with the requirements valid
for type I sound pressure level meters according to IEC-651
[2].
NTACOU 075 3
Calibration shall be made before and after a series of mea-
surements at least at one frequency and one sound pressure
level.
To fulfil these requirements, if a tape recorder is used, it might
be necessary that the frequency response of the total chain of
instruments (except the microphone) is calibrated by means
of a pink noise electrical signal, which is recorded on the tape.
5.3 Microphone positions
Sound propagation from an aircraft, which in most cases can
be considered a non-omnidirectional point source, to a mic-
rophone position in a residential area normally follows at least
two different ways:
- The direct way from the sound source to the mic-
rophone
- The indirect way via one reflection from the ground sur-
face
The interaction between direct sound and reflected sound has
an influence on the spectral distribution and on the sound
pressure level of the sound. This influence cannot be avoided,
and no correction is applied.
If additional sound reflecting surfaces are present near the
microphone, each surface will increase the complexity of the
sound field around the microphone.
It is proposed that one of the following three microphone po-
sitions is used for measurements of air traffic noise emission
in residential areas:
A: Preferred microphone position:
To be used for general environmental measurements.
10 m above ground in the neighbourhood of the building
of current interest and as far as possible unaffected by
reflected sound energy from other surfaces than the
ground.
This position is denoted the “hemi-free field” position in
the remaining part of this document (see Section 4.7).
No correction of measured values for reflected sound
energy from the ground shall be made.
Note: Due to ground reflections the measured
sound pressure level will be higher than the
ideal free field level. At high aircraft elevation
angles (more than 45º) the rise will be from
2 dB on soft ground to 3 dB on hard ground.
At low aircraft elevation angles (5º - 45º) the
rise will be from 1 dB on soft ground to 3 dB
on hard ground.
NORDTEST METHOD
The preferred microphone position 10 m above ground
should be used:
- By measurements of Lr,A ,.,.,= and LAE in an open
landscape or in an residential area where all
houses are below 10 m above terrain, and where it
is possible to position the microphone at a dis-
tance from building surfaces sufficiently large to
avoid disturbing reflections. Minor parts of the
houses, e.g. chimneys, antennaes, do not need to
be taken into account. This position is relevant for
noise monitoring purposes.
- As reference position for measurements of aircraft
noise indoors (absolute value).
The preferred microphone position 10 m above ground
should not be used by measurements where the pur-
pose is to measure the aircraft noise in a specific posi-
tion relevant for an individual house, e.g. behind a high
building shielding the house or the part of it of current in-
terest.
B: Alternative microphone position:
To be used for environmental measurements in areas
with buildings more than 10 m high or where for some
reason it is not possible to establish a microphone pos-
ition according to A.
In positioning the microphone, requirements with rela-
tion to the building as well as requirements with relation
to the noise source shall be fulfilled:
- The microphone shall be flush-mounted, i.e. in
accordance with Section 4.8
- The microphone position on the building must be
chosen in such a way that there is an unshielded
line of sight from the microphone to the aircraft
during the full aircraft operation. If this cannot be
obtained for the full aircraft operation, the demand
can be modified to apply to the part of the opera-
tion decisive for the noise descriptor used. When a
maximum value descriptor is used, the decisive
part of the fly-by operation is only the short time in-
terval in which the maximum sound pressure level
occurs. When a time-integrated descriptor is
used, the decisive part of a fly-by operation is a
time interval sufficiently long to ensure that all
sound energy of importance for the measured de-
scriptor has reached the microphone. This time in-
terval depends on the directivity and the fre-
quency spectrum of the noise emitted from the air-
craft as well as on the distance to the aircraft.
A position on the roof shall be preferred. If this is
not possible, an upper part of the building facing
can be used provided that recesses are avoided.
NTACOU 075 4
The choice of a position should, if possible, be made so
that the influence from other reflecting surfaces than the
one on which the microphone is placed is minimized.
Note: In this position the direct and reflected sound
signals will be correlated, i.e. of same phase
in the frequency range of practical interest. In
order to comply with the results of measure-
ments in position A, 6 dB shall be subtracted
from the measured value.
For flush-mounted microphones no correction of mea-
sured values for reflected sound energy from the ground
shall be made.
c: Alternative microphone position.
To be used for environmental survey measurements:
1.5 m above ground in the neighbourhood of the build-
ing of current interest and preferably over short-cut
grass. Positioning of the microphone relative to the
building depends on the purpose of the measurements,
but should with regard to an unshielded line of sight to
the aircraft during the operation concerned follow the
guidelines given under “B”. Positions where no substan-
tial sound reflections (other than from the ground) influ-
ence the measurement results should be preferred.
Note: If no other sound reflecting surfaces than the
ground are near the microphone, this posi-
tion corresponds to the hemi-free field posi-
tion under A. Yet the measured sound pres-
sure level will be more sensitive to ground at-
tenuation than the sound pressure level mea-
sured under A.
No correction of measured values for reflected sound
energy from the ground shall be made.
5.4 Measurement conditions
54.1 Traffic conditions
The air traffic during the measurement must be representative
of the problem under consideration:
- If the purpose is to measure the maximum sound pres-
sure level from air traffic in a specific residential area, it
must be ensured that the measurement period is chosen
so that it contains the aircraft types with the highest
noise emission using the flight tracks of nearest proxim-
ity.
- If the purpose is to measure the noise exposure over a
given period of time, it is necessary to ensure that the
traffic pattern (runway use, take-off and landing proce-
dures, air fleet mix, time-of-day distribution of the traffic)
is normal or relevant for the problem during the mea-
surement period.
NORDTEST METHOD
5.4.2 Meteorological conditions
Sound levels are affected by meteorological conditions, espe-
cially when the propagation distance is large and when the
sound source is moving at low altitudes.
The frequency-dependent sound attenuation in air is a func-
tion of distance, temperature, and relative humidity (see
IS0 3891 [4]).
Besides, other meteorological parameters as wind direction,
wind velocity and temperature- and wind gradients in vertical
direction have an influence on measured noise emission.
During aircraft noise immission measurements the atmos-
pheric conditions shall in general comply with IS0 3891, 1 st
ed., Section 4.1.2.2 [4].
a) Air traffic at elevation angles larger than 45º
When an aircraft is passing the microphone position at
an elevation angle of more than 45º the influence of
wind and temperature on the measurement results can
be neglected for practical purposes.
b) Air traffic at elevation angles below 45º
With decreasing elevation angle below 45º, there will be
an increasing effect of wind- and temperature gradients
during the measurements. This means that some
meteorological conditions must be avoided if the mea-
surement results shall be reproducable.
If the air traffic under consideration takes place in such
a way that the elevation angle does not exceed 45º, it is
necessary to prescribe that noise measurements should
only be carried out when the wind velocity is in the inter-
val 2 - 5 m/s. The wind direction shall be from the aircraft
to the microphone (downwind) with an allowed deviation
of ±45º.
This should be fulfilled when the position of the aircraft
corresponds to maximum noise emission in the direc-
tion to the microphone.
Note: For many aircraft types the maximum noise
emission angle is approximately 120º from
the flight direction for jet aircraft and 90º from
the flight direction for propeller aircraft.
Measurements of noise immission from aircraft at low
elevation angles also requires that temperature gra-
dients are higher than -0.05ºC/m measured from 0.5 m
to 10 m above the terrain. In the daytime this normally
means a cloud cover of 8/8 and a sun elevation less than
30º or by a cloud cover of 0 - 6/8 a sun elevation less
than 15º.
c) Exceptions
In some cases, however, it has to be accepted that the
requirements to the meteorological conditions corres-
NTACOU 075 5
ponding to a low elevation angle cannot be fulfilled
either because the use of specific runway directions and
flight paths is determined by the wind direction and vel-
ocity, or because the air traffic under consideration
takes place at time of the day when the temperature gra-
dient requirements are not fulfilled.
The meteorological requirements have of course no
meaning by continuous measurement of aircraft noise,
e.g. noise monitoring.
5.4.3 Background noise
Noise from air transport in a residential area will always be
mixed with sound from many other noise sources.
The noise from all such noise sources, not including the air-
craft noise, is called background noise or residual noise.
Measurements shall be carried out in such a way that the influ-
ence of the background noise on the result complies with the
following general requirements:
The sound pressure level Lr, A,b of the background noise or the
sound exposure level LAE,b of the background noise during
theh measuring time should be more than 10 dB lower than
Lp Amax or LAE, respectively measured during the noise event.
The magnitude of the background noise has to be measured
prior to or immediately after the noise event.
If the background noise is fluctuating, the requirements are
that the instantaneous noise level complies with the general
requirements during the whole measurement period.
If the background noise is constant, a correction for the
background noise can be used in some cases where the gen-
eral requirements are not fulfilled.
Note: By measurement of L, ,.,,= a correction is allowed
if LpA,b is fluctuating less than ±1 dB measured
with the same time-weighting as LpAmax.
By measurement of LAE a correction is allowed if
LAE,b is fluctuating less than ± 1 dB by repeated
measurements of same duration as for the mea-
surement of LAE.
Correction for background noise can be made if the LPA ,,,= or
LAE exceeds the background noise Lr,A,b or LAs,b, respectively
by 3 - 10 dB according to:
L,r = 10 log [IOU’O - loLb”o]
where L means the measured level of the descriptor used
(L@ max or LAE), bt is the corrected air traffic noise, level, and
index b indicates background noise.
Note: The lower limit for correction of the measured
sound exposure level for background noise is
NORDTEST METHOD
aLAE,b + 3 dB. This limits corresponds to a
LAE mated to be within ±2 dB if the elevation angle is 45º or more
measured L@ max exceeding the background increasing at low elevation angles and at distances of more
noise level by approximately 5 dB, provided a than 1 km.
triangle approximation of the time history of Lr,A is
valid. Thus the lower limit for correction of LAE is
more restrictive than the lower limit for correction 5.6
of LpA max-
The measurement documentation
following information:
Measurement of LAE in the presence of an intrusive
background noise should be based on an integration time cor- a)
responding only to the time interval when L@ exceeds the b)
background noise level by more than 1 dB.
c)
5.5 Accuracy of results d)
Assuming that the aim of the measurements is to establish
e)
knowledge of the air traffic noise in some residential areas
during normal traffic conditions and under specified
meteorological conditions, there are three different factors
which can influence the results:
- Measurement accuracy
- Traffic conditions
- Meteorological conditions
f)
5.5.1 Measurement accuracy
The accuracy of the results will to some extent depend on the
measurement equipment. Using precision equipment, the
measurement accuracy will be within ± 1 - 1.5 dB with proper
g)
calibration of the equipment.
h)
i)
5.5.2 Traffic conditions
Traffic conditions can have great influence of the measure-
ment results for which reason the measurements have to be
carefully planned (see Section 54.1) in order to be carried out
under the relevant traffic situation.
j)
In the vicinity of a civil airport mainly used for scheduled traffic,
deviations in measured noise immission from one day to
another due to vatying traffic conditions can be assumed to be
k)
of the order of to a few dB when the same runway is in use.
At airports with mainly non-scheduled traffic (e.g. civil airfields
and military air bases) it might be necessary to make measure-
ments for a longer period in order to establish results corres- l)
ponding to an average traffic situation.
m)
5.5.3 Meteorological conditions
Even when the meteorological conditions comply with the re- n)
quirements specified in Section 5.4, some variations in mea-
surement results will occur due to variations in meteorological o)
conditions. By repeated measurements at a distance from the
flight path of less than 1 km under identical traffic conditions, p)
the influence of variations in meteorological conditions is esti-
NTACOU 075 6
Presentation of results
should at least include the
Name and address of the measurement organization
Identification number of the documentation report and
name of the person responsible for the measurement
Name and address of the organization or the person
who ordered the measurement
Purpose of the measurement
Description of the measurement site consisting of a map
showing both the measurement position(s) and ground
track(s) normally used by the air traffic under consider-
ation.
Supplementary plan view and sectional view showing
the microphone position in relation to buildings and
other sound-reflecting surfaces if essential for the ap-
praisal of the measurement results.
Supplementary information of the measurement site
may be given as photos.
Measurement and analysis equipment used both for
data collection and for data analysis shall be specified
by type, make and model and by reference to data
evaluation programs used, etc.
Calibration procedure
Data and time intervals for the measurement
Meteorological conditions: wind direction and - speed,
temperature and relative humidity, temperature gradient
or cloud cover. These parameters must be stated with
time intervals and at positions adequate to judge if the
meteorological conditions were within the limits given in
Section 5.4.3.
Description of the air traffic; time of individual aircraft
events, aircraft type, flight procedure, runway/flight
track used, etc.
Measured noise levels given for the relevant descriptor
tLpA max or LAE) for each aircraft noise event or as a mean
value with supplementary information of standard de-
viation for groups of aircraft noise events.
Information of background noise levels during the mea-
surements
Supplementary information, if available, of time histories
of noise events (level recordings), spectral distribution
of the noise, etc.
Any deviations from the test method
An estimate of the accuracy of these particular mea-
surements
A summary of the measurement results relevant for the
purpose of the measurements