Search

Abstract The expansion of anthropogenic noise poses an emerging threat to the survival and reproductive success of various organisms. Previous investigations have focused on the detrimental effects of anthropogenic noise on the foraging behavior in some terrestrial and aquatic animals. Nevertheless, the role of airport noise in impairing foraging activities of most wild animals has been neglected. Here, we aimed to assess whether foraging behavior in free‐living Japanese pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus abramus) can be disturbed by airport noise. We used audio recording to monitor foraging activities of bats at 11 sites around the runway of a municipal airport. We quantified noise level and spectra, aircraft activity, habitat type, nightly temperature, wind speed, and moon phase for each site. The analysis revealed that noise level and aircraft activity were significant negative predictors for the number of bat passes and feeding buzzes around the runway, even after controlling for the effects of other environmental factors. There was no marked spectral overlap between bat echolocation pulses and airport noise in the presence and absence of low‐flying aircraft. The spectro‐temporal parameters of echolocation vocalizations emitted by bats were dependent on noise level, aircraft activity, and habitat type. These results provide correlative evidence that airport noise can reduce foraging activities of wild pipistrelle bats. Our findings add to the current knowledge of adverse impacts of airport noise on foraging bats in artificial ecosystems and provide a basis for further research on the mechanisms behind noise pollution near airports.

Incompatible uses of land create neighbor conflicts connected with the notions of civil law immissions (non-trespassory invasions) or common law nuisance. These traditional instruments of resolving the neighbor conflict have their limitations when pollution (such as noise pollution produced by aviation) interferes with the use and enjoyment of land that affects numerous landowners. Lawmakers seek to resolve the neighbor conflict with public intervention in such circumstances. Instead of relying on the market, the state allocates entitlements, indicates how parties must behave, and prescribes the conditions under which lawmakers should conclude an agreement. Interestingly, although the nuisance caused by airport noise has the same characteristics worldwide, no uniform solutions are applied. Existing literature regarding airport externalities concentrates on land values, land use, measuring noise, and the influence of noise on human health. Little has been written on legal solutions that seek to balance opposing sides’ interests and indemnify the aggrieved landowners. This Article aims to provide a comparative overview of how lawmakers seek to balance the interests of airports and homeowners in selected European jurisdictions, namely Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Poland. The analysis is based on Richard Posner’s positive analysis, which allows for a systematic description and explanation of the legal system. Understanding the regulating behavior and its effect on the regulated behavior is important when considering possible amendments and developments of the law. The Article begins with assessing the features of a neighbor conflict, analyzes potential property or liability solutions, and then focuses on the public intervention employed to resolve the conflict. A comparison of the various solutions and their underlying assumptions will allow assessing to what extent they are suitable to achieve the objective of conflict resolution and balancing of interests. This Article identifies inconsistencies in policies as compared to the applied economic and legal instruments to indicate good practices in resolving this particular neighbor conflict and provide a basis for future normative analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Purpose This paper presents an analysis of short-term (2025) scenarios for noise emission from civil air traffic in airport areas. Methods Flight movements and noise levels at a given airport are predicted using a web-data-informed methodology based on the ECAC Doc.29 model. This methodology, developed by the authors in a previous work, relies on the collection and processing of air traffic web data to reconstruct flight events to be fed into the ECAC model. Three new elements have been included: i) topographic information from digital elevation models, ii) a fleet substitution algorithm to estimate the impact of newer aircraft, and iii) a generator of flight events to simulate the expected traffic increase. Results The effects of these elements are observed in 2025 scenarios for the airports of London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Vienna-Schwechat. The results quantify the noise reduction from new aircraft and its increment due to the air traffic growth forecast by EUROCONTROL.

Acoustic monitoring is necessary in the acoustic assessment of both airports and aircraft, to be able to determine exactly how the acoustic events due to flights affect the quality of life of people living in their vicinity. An assessment of the noise produced by aircraft requires the use of monitoring stations whose location must cover the inhabited area, placed on the active runways of the airport, so that the information obtained can be correlated with the traffic data. The development aims to achieve sound pollution management with real data and a smartphone application that will allow the population to directly access this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]