Metron Environment

Monitoring the environmental footprint of aviation

Metron Environment, deployable as a stand-alone solution or as part of the Metron Harmony integrated Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) solution, provides modeling, monitoring, assessment and planning to fully understand the environmental impact of all aircraft in the airport, terminal-area and en route domains. Metron Environment interfaces with surveillance information, historical data and future scenario models to estimate fuel usage, CO₂ production, air quality emissions and noise contours.

Fuel and CO₂ Analysis

Metron Environment estimates fuel consumption during different phases of flight operations. For surface operations, fuel consumption is primarily dependent upon aircraft type, engine type, weight and thrust levels, as well as accelerations associated with queuing. For airborne operations, these factors are augmented by the effects of flight profiles, wind and atmospheric conditions. CO2 production is driven by fuel consumption and fuel hydrocarbon content.

Air Quality Emissions Analysis

Metron Environment estimates air quality emissions during different phases of flight for Nitrogen Oxides (NOX), Hydrocarbons/Volatile Organic Compounds (HC/VOC), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Particulate Matter (PM) and Sulfur Oxides (SOX). The generation of fuel and CO2 pollutants depends on the same factors with the addition of engine-specific emission rates per unit of fuel consumed during different phases of operation. Metron Environment calculates the masses of each pollutant as a function of the aircraft population and operational period being evaluated.

Noise Aanlysis

Metron Environment estimates noise effects using a wide range of metrics. The principal metric is the day/night sound level (DNL or LDN) which is primarily dependent upon aircraft type, engine type, flight profile and thrust. DNL can be expressed as either location-specific values or as contours of constant DNL values. Additionally, population locations and magnitudes are used to estimate the number of people exposed to different levels of DNL.

Comprehensive Environmental Management

Metron Environment has three major levels of system functionality that provide comprehensive environmental management for ANSPs, aircraft operators and airport operators:

• Monitor and assess environmental metrics using estimation algorithms and stakeholder-based assessment criteria;
• Predict environmental metrics based on projections of traffic levels, aircraft types, delays, queuing behaviors and additional factors;
• Mitigate environmental impacts assessed as problematic, by re-planning operational activities of lesser concern based on stakeholder assessment criteria.

Metron Environment