Noise Integrated Routing System/NIRS Screening Tool

Large-scale, multi-airport analysis tools for low and high altitude noise impacts

In support of the FAA and airport authorities, Metron Aviation has conducted numerous large-scale, multi-airport analyses of noise impacts for both low and high altitude airspace changes. Metron Aviation developed NIRS (Noise Integrated Routing System), the FAA's standard regional noise model, to efficiently address the large scale requirements of modeling aircraft noise effects from Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) airspace, to multi-state regional airspace environs.  The NIRS Screening Tool (NST) allows for a higher level assessment of potential noise impacts for a study area, requiring less commitment of time and resources to determine significant noise impacts, which would require a more detailed noise analysis framework.

Metron Aviation continues to add new capabilities to NIRS under contract to the FAA.  Current NIRS capabilities include:

• Altitude control logic enables aircraft to follow 3-D trajectories; user-specified tracks or “standard” profiles, consistent with  airspace design intent
• Logic to annualize operations levels to mix traffic from different operational configurations in the ratios appropriate to represent average annual airspace and runway usage
• NIRS impact table and graph provide quantitative and visual changes in noise impacts for alternative airspace designs using specific FAA noise-impact criteria
• Change-analysis logic to specify which of hundreds of potential air traffic elements are causing significant noise impacts
• Map-based tools for display/query of the underlying aircraft track and noise data
• Graphical user interface for ease of project control