Each new generation of commercial aircraft produces less noise and fewer emissions per passenger-kilometer (or ton-kilometer of cargo) than the previous generation. However, the demand for air transportation services grows so quickly that total aircraft noise and emissions continue to increase. Meanwhile, federal, state, and local noise and air quality standards in the United States and overseas have become more stringent. It is becoming more difficult to reconcile public demand for inexpensive, easily accessible air transportation services with concurrent desires to reduce noise, improve local air quality, and protect the global environment against climate change and depletion of stratospheric ozone. This situation calls for federal leadership and strong action from industry and government. U.S. government, industry, and universities conduct research and develop technology that could help reduce aircraft noise and emissions-but only if the results are used to improve operational systems or standards. For example, the (now terminated) Advanced Subsonic Technology Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) generally brought new technology only to the point where a system, subsystem model, or prototype was demonstrated or could be validated in a relevant environment. Completing the maturation process-by fielding affordable, proven, commercially available systems for installation on new or modified aircraft-was left to industry and generally took place only if industry had an economic or regulatory incentive to make the necessary investment. In response to this situation, the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency, asked the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council to recommend research strategies and approaches that would further efforts to mitigate the environmental effects (i.e., noise and emissions) of aviation. The statement of task required the Committee on Aeronautics Research and Technology for Environmental Compatibility to assess whether existing research policies and programs are likely to foster the technological improvements needed to ensure that environmental constraints do not become a significant barrier to growth of the aviation sector.

This open access book provides a view into the state-of-the-art research on aviation noise and related annoyance. The book will primarily focus on the achievements of the ANIMA project (Aviation Noise Impact Management through Novel Approaches), but not exclusively. The content has a broader theme in order to encompass. regulation issues, the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) balanced approach, progresses made on technologies and reduction of noise at source, impact of possible future civil supersonic aircraft, land-use planning issues, as well as the core topics of the ANIMA project, i.e. impact on human beings, annoyance, quality of life, health and findings of the project in this respect. This book differs from traditional research programmes on aviation noise as the authors endeavour, not to lower noise at source, but to reduce the annoyance. This book examines these non-acoustic factors in an effort to help those most affected by aviation noise – communities living close to airports, and also help airport managers, policy-makers, local authorities and researchers to deal with this issue holistically. The book concludes with some recommendations for EU, national and local policy-makers, airport and aviation authorities, and more broadly a scientifically literate audience. These recommendations may help to identify gaps for progress in terms of research but also genuine implementation actions for political and regulatory authorities.