Measuring the levels of noise at the Istanbul Atatürk Airport and comparisons with model simulations.

Airport noise and its impact on the surrounding areas are major issues in the aviation industry. The Istanbul Atatürk Airport is a major global airport with passenger numbers increasing rapidly per annum. The noise levels for day, evening and night times were modeled around the Istanbul Atatürk Airport according to the European Noise Directive using the actual data records for the year 2011. The "ECAC Doc. 29-Interim" method was used for the computation of the aircraft traffic noise. In the setting the noise model for the local airport topography was taken into consideration together with the noise source data, the airport loadings, features of aircraft and actual air traffic data. Model results were compared with long-term noise measurement values for calibration. According to calibration results, classifications of the aircraft type and flight tracks were revised. For noise model validation, the daily noise measurements at four additional locations were used during the verification period. The input data was re-edited only for these periods and the model was validated. A successful model performance was obtained in several zones around the airport. The validated noise model of the Istanbul Atatürk Airport can be now utilized both for determining the noise levels in the future and for producing new strategies which are about the land use planning, operational considerations for the air traffic management and the noise abatement procedures.