New common noise assessment methods (CNOS-SOS-EU) for aircraft noise: Comparison with previously available procedures and test in the applicative case study of Florence, Italy

In the Tuscany region (Italy) the interest on aircraft noise has always been very keen, due to the presence of the "Amerigo Vespucci" airport of Florence. Environmental issues associated with the airport are strongly perceived by citizens, with particular reference to its acoustic impact: whole districts located near the track, on existing take off/landing routes, suffer from noise limits exceedances and high annoyance. In 2015 this interest grew and spread to other towns near Florence, due to the proposal for a new layout of the "Amerigo Vespucci" airport, consisting in the realization of a new runway, rotated and extended with respect to the current one. All this considered, it is deemed extremely interesting to start a research study about the local aircraft noise impact, according to the current and the future airport configuration. The need for such a study is confirmed by the European Directive 2015/996 which recently introduced new common procedures for the noise determination. In fact, the effectiveness of new calculation methods need to be verified and their adaptability to different territories should be tested. The first aim of the research illustrated in this paper is to compare the calculation methods proposed by European Directive 2015/996 with the previous available ones and to highlight the main criticalities. In addition, a pilot case identified with the "Amerigo Vespucci" airport will be selected and specific models of noise aircraft propagation will be built. In a subsequent phase, noise monitoring campaigns will be performed and the comparison between the simulated and experimental values will give an indication of the models' uncertainty. Finally, the introduction of indicators for the indoor disturbance during teaching activities will be investigated.