Since 1996, one of the most advanced systems of its kind for monitoring noise and track keeping has been in operation at Ben Gurion Airport. The system continuously measures the intensity of aircraft noise using monitors located along the takeoff flight paths. For each monitoring station a maximum noise level has been set.
Linking the system to radar enables a process of correlating noise events captured by the stations with flights along the airway routes in real time.
Among the basic capabilities of the system we can mention:
§ Identification of flights that deviate from permitted noise levels.
§ Identification of noise events and flights according to residents’ complaints.
§ Showing the location where planes pass in relation to areas (to the level of streets and buildings).
§ Storage, display and analysis of aviation data.
§ Automatic report production, such as letters of complaints to airline companies for deviating from the noise threshold or airway routes.
§ Retrieval of system data by various criteria and displaying them on a variety of maps and photos.
Noise monitoring and route tracking systems almost identical to the one in Ben Gurion are found in the airports of Madrid, Amsterdam, Manchester, Zurich, Helsinki, London, Vancouver, San Francisco and Washington DC, the six large cities of Australia, and other airports in Europe and the USA.
The system is connected online to a workstation at the Ministry of the Environment.
This system meets the requirements of the National Master Plan relating to setting up an environmental monitoring system. Since it was declared an “environmental monitoring system” by the qualified bodies, four more monitors have been added to the array of stations that existed at that time.
The monitoring system was approved by the Civil Aviation Administration and the Ministry of Justice for the purpose of producing evidence admissible in any legal proceedings when the time comes.
The system data are published in a monthly report distributed to the local authorities, government ministries, public representatives and the airline companies.
ministries, public representatives and the airline companies.
For any deviation from the noise levels at the monitoring stations which is automatically identified by the system, a warning letter is printed and sent to the airline company, demanding a detailed explanation of the reason for the deviation. The system’s findings are discussed by a team for handling excessive aircraft noise.