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.
