Aircraft noise control policy and mental health: a natural experiment based on the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA)

BackgroundThis study examines the impact of environmental noise policy on depressive symptoms by exploiting the national experiment afforded by the New Deal aircraft noise control policy introduced in Schiphol (Amsterdam) in 2008.MethodsData came from older adults (ages 57–102) participating in three waves (2005/2006, 2008/2009 and 2011/2012) of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) (N=1746). Aircraft noise data from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency were linked to LASA cohort addresses using the GeoDMS software. The Centre for Epidemiologic Studies—Depression (CES-D) scale was used to measure depressive symptoms. Using a difference-in-dfferences (DiD) approach, we compared changes in CES-D levels of depressive symptoms before and after the policy between people living close (≤15 km) and those living far away (>15 km) from Schiphol airport.ResultsThere were few changes in noise levels after the introduction of the policy. Estimates suggested that the policy did not lead to a reduction in noise levels in the treatment areas relative to the control areas (DiD estimate=0.916 dB(A), SE=0.345), and it had no significant impact on levels of depressive symptoms (DiD estimate=0.044, SE=0.704). Results were robust to applying different distance thresholds.ConclusionThe New Deal aircraft noise control policy introduced in Amsterdam was not effective in reducing aircraft noise levels and had no impact on depressive symptoms in older people. Our results raise questions about the effectiveness of the current noise control policy to improve the well-being of residents living near the airport.

Deployable Micro-Tabs in Aircraft Noise Control Near Airports: Scaled Experimental Apparatus and Computational Results

Reducing acoustic noise emission of commercial aircraft is of great interest to communities near airport. It is well recognized that the aircraft noise during the landing approach is mostly due to use of high lift devices. In this paper, in-flight deployable micro-tab devices are investigated for their suitability in aircraft landing nose control. This is accomplished with the use of the virtual-reality after scaled testing-simulation-validations approach. A scaled testing apparatus had to be designed to capture non-propulsive noise from aircraft during approach to validate the results of computational scaled simulation. This apparatus now serves as an anechoic wind tunnel at low Mach numbers and its design is detailed. We proposed use of lift generating micro-tab device that will allow reduced slat and/or flap settings during the approach thereby causing a reduction in airframe noise. Simulations based on a 1/3rd scaled B737 wing resulted in promising noise reductions for the case with deployed micro-tab.