Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NEEDED (Next generation data-driven reference European models and methods towards silent and green aircraft operations around airports)
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-06-30
NEEDED responds to the second and third bullets of the “expected outcome” of the HORIZON-CL5-2022-D5-01-12 topic, delivering the next generation data-driven reference European models and methods to estimate present and future aircraft emissions (pollutants and noise), achieving TRL 4 at the end of the project. To do so, NEEDED is advancing the state of the art by:
• improving the accuracy of the reconstruction of aircraft operations by using real-world ADS-B data (project Area #1),
• advancing emission inventories for current and future aircraft technologies, while delivering more accurate pollution dispersion models (project Area #2),
• improving the ECAC Doc 29 noise model accuracy in the Lden 45-55dB(A) region and extending its applicability towards future aircraft technologies (project Area #3),
• performing more accurate estimation of the number of people affected by local air transport operations by using dynamic population maps (project Area #4).
These activities are complemented by (i) local air quality (LAQ) and experimental noise measurements performed at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, (ii) validation of the NEEDED toolchain (see Figure 1) in a 30-week pilot study involving three airports, and (iii) delivery of a methodology to optimise the flight patterns for minimum detrimental impact on the population in present and future scenarios.
The NEEDED toolchain will enable the prediction of noise emissions from single aircraft takeoff and landing procedures using publicly available ADS-B data. This capability allows for noise emission computations at almost any airport based on actual traffic, without needing data from airports or airlines. This opens several opportunities: researchers and associations can gain better insights into major noise events, regulators can establish more effective regulations, and we can predict noise reduction achievable by implementing specific technologies or renewing the aircraft fleet.
Furthermore, for Local Air Quality (LAQ), we aim to significantly improve the predictions of current state-of-the-art codes. This enhancement will provide researchers, associations, and regulators with a better tool to estimate the effects of real-world traffic on LAQ, helping to identify promising improvements.
• improving the accuracy of the reconstruction of aircraft operations by using real-world ADS-B data (project Area #1),
• advancing emission inventories for current and future aircraft technologies, while delivering more accurate pollution dispersion models (project Area #2),
• improving the ECAC Doc 29 noise model accuracy in the Lden 45-55dB(A) region and extending its applicability towards future aircraft technologies (project Area #3),
• performing more accurate estimation of the number of people affected by local air transport operations by using dynamic population maps (project Area #4).
These activities are complemented by (i) local air quality (LAQ) and experimental noise measurements performed at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, (ii) validation of the NEEDED toolchain (see Figure 1) in a 30-week pilot study involving three airports, and (iii) delivery of a methodology to optimise the flight patterns for minimum detrimental impact on the population in present and future scenarios.
The NEEDED toolchain will enable the prediction of noise emissions from single aircraft takeoff and landing procedures using publicly available ADS-B data. This capability allows for noise emission computations at almost any airport based on actual traffic, without needing data from airports or airlines. This opens several opportunities: researchers and associations can gain better insights into major noise events, regulators can establish more effective regulations, and we can predict noise reduction achievable by implementing specific technologies or renewing the aircraft fleet.
Furthermore, for Local Air Quality (LAQ), we aim to significantly improve the predictions of current state-of-the-art codes. This enhancement will provide researchers, associations, and regulators with a better tool to estimate the effects of real-world traffic on LAQ, helping to identify promising improvements.
Obj. #1:
NEEDED has defined and developed a data collection and pre-processing framework to deliver datasets of real-world aircraft operations from ADS-B data. This is implemented in Traffic library. NEEDED has developed also a methodology to estimate missing aircraft performance parameters (e.g. thrust, weight) for near-airport flight operations on the basis of the datasets provided by Traffic. In RP2 these algorithms and methods will be further improved and validated.
Obj. #2:
NEEDED started the improvement of EUROCONTROL Open-ALAQS on allowing the use of the real-world aircraft ground movements and airborne trajectories provided by WP2 and increasing its time resolution in emission calculation. Concerning the highly resolved atmospheric dispersion, the development of the module to interface with ONERA's atmospheric model Meso-NH with Open-ALAQS is started, as the off-line coupling between Meso-NH and GEOS-CHEM.
Obj. #3:
NEEDED delivered a first version of a methodology to compare the predictions of the Doc.29. model with experimental measurements and it has been applied to a first set of measurements performed near Rotterdam airport.
Other achievements:
NEEDED has started with the noise measurements around RTHA and the preliminary test plan for the emission at the Rotterdam airport and Larnaca airport has been delivered in D3.1.
NEEDED has started with the dynamic population maps development. The core activities will be performed in RP2 and RP3.
NEEDED has selected Rotterdam, Schiphol, and Dublin as target airports. A representative week has been selected in March 2023, and a draft database from WP2 has been delivered. Selection of other weeks is not finalised. WP3 has started a compilation of all emission sources at the Rotterdam airport, to collect all the necessary information about the airport and non-airport (e.g. roadway traffic) sources that can and will be modelled within NEEDED, including activity data, source characteristics and emission indices for each source
NEEDED has defined and developed a data collection and pre-processing framework to deliver datasets of real-world aircraft operations from ADS-B data. This is implemented in Traffic library. NEEDED has developed also a methodology to estimate missing aircraft performance parameters (e.g. thrust, weight) for near-airport flight operations on the basis of the datasets provided by Traffic. In RP2 these algorithms and methods will be further improved and validated.
Obj. #2:
NEEDED started the improvement of EUROCONTROL Open-ALAQS on allowing the use of the real-world aircraft ground movements and airborne trajectories provided by WP2 and increasing its time resolution in emission calculation. Concerning the highly resolved atmospheric dispersion, the development of the module to interface with ONERA's atmospheric model Meso-NH with Open-ALAQS is started, as the off-line coupling between Meso-NH and GEOS-CHEM.
Obj. #3:
NEEDED delivered a first version of a methodology to compare the predictions of the Doc.29. model with experimental measurements and it has been applied to a first set of measurements performed near Rotterdam airport.
Other achievements:
NEEDED has started with the noise measurements around RTHA and the preliminary test plan for the emission at the Rotterdam airport and Larnaca airport has been delivered in D3.1.
NEEDED has started with the dynamic population maps development. The core activities will be performed in RP2 and RP3.
NEEDED has selected Rotterdam, Schiphol, and Dublin as target airports. A representative week has been selected in March 2023, and a draft database from WP2 has been delivered. Selection of other weeks is not finalised. WP3 has started a compilation of all emission sources at the Rotterdam airport, to collect all the necessary information about the airport and non-airport (e.g. roadway traffic) sources that can and will be modelled within NEEDED, including activity data, source characteristics and emission indices for each source
The project aims to achieve several advancements beyond the current state of the art. While significant progress has been made during the first reporting period, these achievements still require further validation and proof. This will be undertaken in the second and third reporting periods.
However, the following accomplishments are already measurable: (i) we were able to reach >90% of the reconstruction of the actual flight events in the selected airports, (ii) for more than 65% of the flight events, it was possible to include also the taxi phases.
However, the following accomplishments are already measurable: (i) we were able to reach >90% of the reconstruction of the actual flight events in the selected airports, (ii) for more than 65% of the flight events, it was possible to include also the taxi phases.