7.2 The Airport and The Environment

 Noise Pollution

There are several environmental factors in the aviation industry that can have quite an impact. Environmental factors are aspects, such as temperature, light, sound, pollutants, population density, and more, that can impede human health and wellness. Three specific and significant environmental categories are air pollution, noise pollution, and water pollution. Today, I will be focusing on noise pollution. Noise pollution is an invisible danger. Noise which is produced by aircrafts in flight is associated with numerous negative stresses facilitated health effects. Aviation can has come a long way in several qualities but particularly technology-wise. Turboprops that used to power aircrafts were loud and noisy, over time, this improved but there is no doubt they still continue to make a disturbance. There have been numerous studies done to show exactly how significant noise pollution is harmful. A specific study done by the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) showed that constant exposure to noise like such of an aircraft in airports, may reduce detection of memory, cause someone to become more fatigued, and lead to heart disease and hypertension (Basner, M., Clark, C., Hansell, A., Hileman, J. I., Janssen, S., Shepherd, K., & Sparrow, V., 2017). One way to mitigate noise pollution, the ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization, introduced a new standard to noise reduction, Chapter 14. It specifies new aircraft need to be at least seven decibels quieter than those built to the previous Chapter Four standard (Beresnevicius, n.d.). Because engines are the main contributors to overall noise emitted from these aircrafts, modern engines are now produced with higher bypass ratios, new positions in aircraft, and the size of the fan blades in the engines. The main priority of reducing noise pollution is to better the quality of life of people who live near airports or busy flight paths as it can have detrimental consequences on one’s health.

Noise Pollution Isn't Just a Problem for Urban Areas - Pacific Standard 5 Technology | Technology for a Quieter America | The National Academies Press

 


References: 

Basner, M., Clark, C., Hansell, A., Hileman, J. I., Janssen, S., Shepherd, K., & Sparrow, V. (2017). Aviation Noise

    Impacts: State of the Science. Noise & Health, 19(87), 41–50. https://doi.org/10.4103/nah.NAH_104_16 


Beresnevicius, R. (n.d.). Why is Reducing Noise Pollution Crucial for Aviation? Aerotime Hub.

    https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/23851-aircraft-noise-pollution-aviation

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4.3 Aviation Security

Image
  Arely Zamudio Threats from Insiders: There have been numerous of enchantments to the security of aviation, especially after the 9/11 attack, however, there are still several security threats that the aviation industry is vulnerable to. One of these threats is called “insider threat”. The inside threat is primary the risk of airline employees having admission to sensitive and restricted information and areas. These employees have access to a large portion of areas in airports which offers them the opportunity to attack an aircraft by evident or concealed means. They can: share sensitive procedures, plant explosives or weapons on aircraft, and tamper with any security systems in aircraft (Black, 2010). Federal agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have implemented several procedures and requirements in order to decrease the likely hood of an inside threat. Employees in the aviation industry, specifically those wor
Read more

5.3 Team Based Human Factors Challenges

Image
 Team-Based Human Factors Human factors, relating to the aviation industry, are human conditions that contribute to accidents and incidents correlating to aircraft. Human factors can range from physical, emotional, and even mental elements in one's life. Because human factors are more probable, 60%-80%, to cause aviation accidents than that of any mechanical failure, it is important to understand exactly how that is and how that can be reduced (Aurino, 2010). There are several disciplines that make up human factors such as; educational, clinical, experimental, and organizational psychology, anthropometrics, computer, medical, and cognitive science, and safety engineering. By recognizing these disciples in understanding human factors, there is hope to take action before anything happens. (FAA, 2016).  Crew Resource Management or CRM, is a process that is used by the aircraft crew members to identify current and potential threats then develop plans in order to convey and execute th
Read more

6.2 Legislative Acts

Image
  Aviation and Transportation Security Act On September 11, 2001, approximately nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes in a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers of the World Center. This was an extremely tragic event in the United States, following this attack, airport security improvement was a key feature of global anti-terrorism efforts. On November 18 and 19 2001, the United States Congress enacted an act called the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. The goal of this act was to standardize pre-flight passengers and cargo screening by decentralizing security services and screening personnel in airports. Prior to the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, airport security guidelines and procedures were quite general and imprecise. Therefore, this act was truly essential to the aviation industry because it created what now we call the Federal Transportation Security Administration or TSA (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 2003).
Read more