AN EVALUATION OF THE AIRPORT NOISE AROUND AIRPORT OF THAILAND USING AVIATION ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN TOOL

Abstract

Aircraft noise is a significant environmental impact associated with airport operations, affecting both the quality of life in surrounding communities and influencing land use. This paper presents a modeling framework for evaluating the impacts of airport noise around Thailand's major airports. The proposed framework consists of 2 components: 1) Noise impact analysis, to evaluate the exposure patterns of aircraft noise using the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) mathematical model, which is a GIS-based analytical approach enriched with historical noise measurement data and aircraft operational characteristics, to forecast Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF) contours, and 2) Temporal comparative analysis using statistical correlation and GIS optimization to evaluate changes in noise-affected zones. The model was validated at 5 major airports, including Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Phuket airports. The results of noise impact assessments, which consider accessibility and land use compatibility of communities around airports, risk exposure patterns and population distribution can be reliably determined. At the national level, 363,800 people are affected by aircraft noise, with 57,330 people living in high-impact zones. Validation results show high correlation (R² = 0.89-0.94) between measured and predicted values.  The findings support integrating noise assessment into airport planning, especially for future projects like Chiang Mai Airport No.2, and recommend adopting ICAO-based land use controls to protect communities.