At head of title: Airport Cooperative Research Program.

The transportation sector, accounting for about one fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions, is facing a significant transformation in order to become more climate-friendly. In terms of air transportation, there are several important steps on the way to making flying sustainable both for the planet itself and for people directly or indirectly being exposed to its effects. In the state of the current air traffic operations, where environmentally friendly propulsion systems and fuels are not yet implemented on a large scale, enhancing the efficiency in the airspace can help to bring us closer to the environmental goals of aviation. Such solutions may include improved synchronization of arriving flights in the Terminal Maneuvering Area (TMA), in which congestion is a problem for many airports. In this thesis, we first explore and develop methodologies for assessing the environmental impact of the operations in TMA. More specifically, the goal of the assessments is to quantify the additional fuel consumption, gaseous emissions and noise that comes from horizontally and vertically inefficient arrival operations in TMA. We perform our assessments on a couple of European airports, including Stockholm-Arlanda. Secondly, we propose a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP)-based optimization model which provides for conflict-free arrival operations, where aircraft fly fuel-efficient Continuous Descent Operations (CDOs), applied to Point Merge (PM) arrival procedures, with the primary purpose to serve as a route assigner. We base our optimization on real scenarios, from actual transmitted flight data, and model realistic descent profiles considering the operational capabilities of the specific aircraft type. Additionally, the optimization model ensures the required spacing between aircraft taking off and landing in case the runway is used in a mixed mode. We evaluate our solutions by assessing numerous performance metrics, including environmental efficiency, and compare to the actual trajectories of the real operations. On two European airports implementing PM procedures, we demonstrate that our optimization model provides improved vertical performance as well as reduced time and distance flown in TMA, contributing to reduced levels of noise and fuel savings, accompanied by decreased emissions.

"TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 86: Environmental Optimization of Aircraft Departures: Fuel Burn, Emissions, and Noise explores a protocol for evaluating and optimizing aircraft departure procedures in terms of noise exposure, emissions, and fuel burn. Included with the print version of the report is a CD-ROM that contains the spreadsheet-based Departure Optimization Investigation Tool (DOIT) that allows users to understand and test tradeoffs among various impact measures, including noise levels, rate of fuel consumption, and emissions."--Publisher's description.

Sustainable Aviation Technology and Operations Comprehensively covers research and development initiatives to enhance the environmental sustainability of the??aviation sector Sustainable Aviation Technology and Operations provides a comprehensive and timely outlook of recent research advances in aeronautics and air transport, with emphasis on both long-term sustainable development goals and current achievements. This book discusses some of the most promising advances in aircraft technologies, air traffic management and systems engineering methodologies for sustainable aviation. The topics covered include: propulsion, aerodynamics, avionics, structures, materials, airspace management, biofuels and sustainable lifecycle management. The physical processes associated with various aircraft emissions — including air pollutants, noise and contrails — are presented to support the development of computational models for aircraft design, flight path optimization and environmental impact assessment. Relevant advances in systems engineering and lifecycle management processes are also covered, bridging some of the existing gaps between academic research and industry best practices. A collection of research case studies complements the book, highlighting opportunities for a timely uptake of the most promising technologies, towards a more efficient and environmentally sustainable aviation future. Key features: Contains important research and industry relevant contributions from world-class experts. Addresses recent advances in aviation sustainability including multidisciplinary design approaches and multi-objective operational optimisation methods. Includes a number of research case studies, addressing propulsion, aerostructures, alternative aviation fuels, avionics, air traffic management, and sustainable lifecycle management solutions. Sustainable Aviation Technology and Operations is an excellent book for aerospace engineers, aviation scientists, researchers and graduate students involved in the field.

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) refers to the federal programs (predominately airspace, air traffic, or avionics related) that are designed to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS). The Airport Cooperative Research Program's (ACRP's) NextGen initiative aims to inform airport operators about some of these programs and how the enabling practices, data, and technologies resulting from them will affect airports and change how they operate. Volume 1, Understanding the airport's role in performance-based navigation : resource guide, provides comprehensive information to practitioners concerning all aspects of Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) and how implementation affects overall airport operations. This Resource Guide encompasses background information, description of effects on short- and long-term airport development, impacts on safety and performance measures, and other critical factors affecting future airport operations. In addition to providing guidance to users on available resources for additional assistance, this volume also includes lessons learned and best practices based on findings from case studies that examined the airport operator's role in PBN implementation. Volume 2, Engaging airport stakeholders : guidebook, helps airports engage the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aircraft operators, community representatives, and other airport stakeholders during the planning, environmental review, design, deployment, and monitoring phases of NextGen implementation. The guidance references a NextGen Outreach Toolkit, which contain videos, an interactive flow chart, and links to additional resources. The NextGen Outreach Toolkit, which will be available for download from a forthcoming website, accompanies Volume 2. The Toolkit also incorporates material created in conjunction with the other projects in the ACRP 150 (NextGen) series. These materials may help airports establish a continuous engagement strategy to balance stakeholder needs as well as efficient NextGen implementation. Volume 3, Resources for airports, is a resource guide that provides a comprehensive list of NextGen technologies and initiatives categorized and described for airport practitioners, and presents existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans that could potentially affect airports of all sizes and roles, the larger aviation industry, and the public. This guide presents a likely timeline for implementation and highlights the FAA's planned rollout of near- and mid-term elements as well as its long-range vision. Appendices include a glossary of terms and a Public Information Toolkit for communicating about the NextGen initiative to the broad spectrum of external stakeholders. This Public Information Toolkit is also available at the ACRP NextGen for Airports. Volume 4, Leveraging NextGen spatial data to benefit airports : guidebook, provides information for airport operators on the creation, maintenance, and use of spatial data that is generated as a result of NextGen initiatives. The data that airports have or will have to produce is used in a variety of different ways to advance some of the NextGen programs. This guidebook identifies benefits to airports from the spatial data that is required or produced from NextGen programs, not all of which are obvious. The guidebook also describes costs, and financial and legal considerations. In addition, a customizable presentation template can be downloaded from the report webpage at www.trb.org/acrp. The presentation can be tailored to educate various communities about NextGen and spatial data.