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CIVIL ENGINEERING
GIS Enhances Noise Abatement Program
LAWA (Los Angeles World Airports) uses GIS to comply with state noise regulations
By Matt Rowe and Matt Caraway In a fairly new application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Los Angeles World Airports is using a GIS enhanced and refined by Psomas and Associates, Santa Monica, California, to map noise contours. The GIS maps are the core of reports required for federal funding to soundproof some 25,000 residences in the vicinity of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) where noise levels exceed California standards. The GIS is also being used in planning the expansion of LAX to analyze the impacts of various runway alternatives on surrounding communities.
Beyond the mapping of noise contours, GIS has unlimited potential for use in a wide range of airport land-side and air-side operations. Mitigating Noise Impacts
When it first opened in 1928, Los Angeles International Airport was surrounded by farmlands. Inevitably, these farmlands gave way to urban development with the growth of Los Angeles. When jet aircraft began flying out of LAX in 1959, residents, merchants, and school authorities immediately began complaining about the impact of aircraft noise. In the 1960s, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) used Federal Aviation Administration funds to remove more than 2,800 homes that were severely impacted by aircraft noise, relocating approximately 7,000 residents. Efforts to achieve compliance with FAA and state noise regulations have continued ever since.
Today, the airport has an ambitious plan to fund the soundproofing of some 25,000 residences in the vicinity of LAX whose Community Noise Equivalent Levels (CNEL) are above 65 decibels and therefore out of compliance with state regulations. The GIS Solution
To locate the impacted residences, the airport needed to create a database to determine the land uses within noise contours above 65 decibels. GIS was the obvious solution for preparing the Aircraft Noise Mitigation Program (ANMP) reports needed to obtain FAA grant funds for the soundproofing program.
Wyle Laboratories, which is assisting the airport in managing the soundproofing program, turned to Psomas for the GIS solution. Wyle chose the firm because of its extensive GIS experience-including the GIS for the City of Los Angeles' entire stormwater management system-and ability to deliver the full range of GIS services: surveying, digital ortho photogrammetric mapping and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
The use of GIS in airport operations is not brand new, but the technology has not been used extensively, and certainly not at the level that Psomas is applying it at LAX. In terms of mapping noise contours, most airports still add the related data by hand, using standard maps and acetate overlays. Even airport staff that do use the technology are often not using it to its fullest potential. Creating the Database
To create the GIS, Psomas needed first to determine the extent and reliability of the existing database and then ascertain the information available to expand it. Information was gathered from various sources and formats, coordinated and standardized, and digitized into one overall database.
One key data source was Digital Map Products, a joint venture of Thomas Bros. Maps and Psomas that packages state-of-the-art databases, making them accessible and affordable. Digital Map Products combines digital parcel data with Thomas Bros. Map data, satellite imagery from Space Imaging EOSAT Corporation, and property records from Experian Corporation (formerly TRW). These databases are integrated with popular GIS hardware and software platforms and continually updated by Digital Map.
The original GIS was prepared by LAWA some years ago in an ARC/INFO format. The first step was to determine how up-to-date and accurate this information was. Psomas ran the data through several iterations of GIS software to determine its reliability, discovered inconsistencies and rectified them. Once this was done, the database was expanded geographically to include surrounding areas not previously covered. This was accomplished by attaching the affected assessor's parcels (APN's) to the existing database by virtue of Digital Map Products' centerline data. Once attached, the APNs were then populated with the pertinent information. The GIS Product
The resulting GIS provides land maps with overlays of data indicating parcel-level information such as land use, addresses, streets, highways, jurisdictional boundaries, zoning and general plan designations, and assessor information. It also includes vectorized engineering data and photos.
Noise contours were superimposed on this map, based on LAX's 26 noise monitoring sites, to determine the incompatible land uses. These noise contours were obtained in a digital format. They were then put into a format compatible with the underlying database. Using ARC/INFO, ArcCAD and ArcView, Psomas provided Wyle with the necessary reports, tables and maps.
The GIS gave airport staff immediate access to highly accurate and reliable data, allowing them to create the ANMP reports in a vastly accelerated time frame, thereby speeding the delivery of federal funds.
Psomas also provided on-site training for key members of the city/county staff that will use the software. Once trained, these staff members can work in a self-sufficient manner, updating and preparing the required reports and maps as necessary.
The GIS also was used in the preparation of ANMP reports for the adjacent communities of Inglewood, Lennox, and El Segundo to streamline the processing of their own federal grant applications. Use in Planning and Implementation
Within the City of Los Angeles alone, some 9,000 residences need to be soundproofed. Last year, the airport department created a bureau specifically charged with handling its soundproofing program-the Residential Soundproofing Bureau. The bureau estimates that their $200 million program will take five to seven years to complete, with 80% of the funding for noise mitigation coming from the FAA.
In addition to creating the parameter of the program, the GIS also is used in implementation. The Soundproofing Bureau has developed a prioritization plan to assure that those most severely impacted will be the first residents eligible to take advantage of the program. The GIS becomes a planning tool that helps staff devise an optimum phasing program-which homes to acquire, which homes to first insulate or retrofit with new windows and doors.
A building block program, the GIS database is also used for accounting and monitoring: to record the amount of federal funds applied for and granted, and the start and completion dates of noise retrofitting construction. LAX Expansion
Beyond using the GIS to map existing noise contours for the soundproofing program, it is also being used as a tool to study alternatives for the future expansion of LAX. Psomas has generated GIS maps showing noise impacts from various proposed runway concepts, creating an important decision-making tool. Whereas in the past it took weeks, today airport management can immediately analyze the impacts of the runway concepts, based on highly accurate and detailed data. Beyond LAX
The aviation community's interest in GIS technology is growing. For San Francisco and Burbank airports, Psomas is actually preparing a parcel-level database. Unlike LAX, which had an existing parcel-level database that needed updating and supplementing, in the case of San Francisco and Burbank airports it was necessary to start from scratch to put the information into the digital world. San Francisco is using its GIS for noise-related reports and exhibits, while Burbank is using it to streamline its soundproofing program in much the same manner as LAX. Wide Range of Airport Applications
A GIS of this nature has unlimited applications in the operation of airports. It can become the future database for planning and management of a variety of land-side and air-side operations. It can be used for a wide range of planning and development projects, to manage the multitude of airport lessors (recording lease amounts, ownership, lease rates, etc.), pavement maintenance, utilities (capacity and location), and much more.
We are just witnessing the beginnings of the widespread use of GIS in airports around the world. About the Author:
Matt Rowe is a project director with Psomas. He has more than 14 years of professional surveying experience, specializing in design, ALTA and large-scale surveying and mapping, and mapping GIS projects. Matt Caraway is the Psomas project manager for the Los Angeles World Airports Sound Insulations program GIS. He has more than nine years experience in GIS and has coordinated several airport GIS projects.
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