SOS | SAVE OUR SKIES ALLIANCE
  • Background
  • Affected Areas
    • Arapahoe County >
      • City of Aurora
      • City of Centennial
      • City of Cherry Hills Village
      • City of Englewood
      • City of Glendale
      • City of Greenwood Village
      • City of Littleton
      • City of Sheridan
    • City and County of Broomfield
    • Boulder County >
      • City of Boulder
      • City of Erie
      • City of Gunbarrel
      • City of Lafayette
      • City of Longmont
      • City of Louisville
      • Town of Superior
      • Unincorporated Boulder County
    • Jefferson County >
      • City of Arvada
      • City of Edgewater
      • City of Golden
      • City of Lakewood
      • City of Westminster
      • City of Wheat Ridge
  • Front Range Airports
    • Boulder Municipal Airport | BDU
    • Centennial Airport | APA
    • Colorado Springs Municipal Airport | COS
    • Denver International Airport | DIA
    • Erie Municipal Airport | EIK
    • Front Range Airport | CFO
    • Greely-Weld County Airport | GXY
    • Meadow Lake Airport | FLY
    • Northern Colorado Regional Airport | FNL
    • Parkland Estates Airpark
    • Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport | BJC
    • Van Aire Skyport |
    • Vance Brand Municipal Airport | LMO
  • Issues
    • Plane Crashes
    • Lead Exposure
    • Health Impacts
    • Noise Pollution
    • Economic Impact
    • Environmental Impact
    • Proposed Solutions
  • Press
    • Plane Crashes
    • Media Coverage
    • aviation perspectives
  • Contact
  • Get Involved
  • News + Updates

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is a very real health issue to our communities. Not just the humans in them, but the other animals and wildlife that call these places home.
Per the Colorado Department of Transportation:
Noise is considered unwanted sound that can disturb routine activities (e.g., sleep, conversation, student learning) and can cause annoyance.

Aviation Noise

The Colorado Department of Transportation has published guidelines on noise and compatible land use planning. These guidelines state that "Aviation noise primarily results from the operation of fixed and rotary wing aircraft, such as departures, arrivals, overflights, taxiing, and engine run-ups. Noise is often the predominant aviation environmental concern of the public. Aircraft noise in communities around airports historically generated most of the noise issues. There are increasing concerns in suburban and rural areas farther from airports where ambient noise is lower than it is in the more urbanized areas that tend to surround many commercial service airports...The compatibility of existing and planned land uses with proposed aviation actions is usually determined in relation to the level of aircraft noise. "
Recently, a federal judge in Colorado issued a finding that using noise modeling was not a sufficient substitute for noise monitoring, and that the noise modeling greatly underestimated the actual noise impact on communities surrounding the airport. As proof, the Department of Transportation publishes a national transportation noise map, in which you can see the noise impacts associated with highways, train lines, and airports. As you can see, aviation has a significant impact on the noise pollution for areas surrounding airport operations (and not just in the immediate half-mile vicinity).

FAA Noise Research Program Neighborhood Environmental Survey On Aircraft Noise

Executive Summary"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has undertaken a multi-year research effort to quantify the impacts of aircraft noise exposure on communities around commercial service airports in the United States (US). Community annoyance is the impact of interest covered by this report. Researchers typically determine an individual’s annoyance to noise through sociological surveys that measure subjective reactions to cumulative noise exposure."

"Research published in the two decades since the release of the FICON report suggests the FICON curve might under-estimate annoyance due to aircraft noise exposure. More recent dose-response curves from data collected outside the US have shown increased levels of annoyance at a given noise exposure level; further, the FICON curve included multiple modes of transportation, not just aircraft."
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“The result of this effort is an update to the scientific evidence on the relationship between aircraft noise exposure and the annoyance of individuals living in airport communities.”
“Noise is not always just about decibels; the pitch, vibration, variation in intensity and the length of exposure time can have impacts too.”
“The level of annoyance also varies owing to factors such as the length of time a person lives in an area affected by aircraft noise, personal sensitivity, the impact of outside influences and the activity the individual is engaged in at the time e.g. sleeping, working, watching TV.”
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It's Not Just Aircraft - Drones are Coming Soon

There has been talk at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, among others, about bringing a drone port to the airport to support drone operations for package deliveries and the like. This would mean a substantial impact to the noise levels in the communities surrounded by and delivered to from the airport. 
By amending 14 C.F.R. Part 107 to allow previously prohibited operation over unrelated populations and moving vehicles, both during the day and at night, FAA may have opened the flood gates to UA without adequate consideration of their impacts on underlying populations.
Incessant mechanical buzzing doesn’t fit with anyone’s idea of a pleasant community. That’s what drones will bring, though. Even domestic drones can raise baseline sound pressure levels by at least 20 decibels; when each 6dB increase means loudness doubles, that means a single drone can make an area 8 to 12 times louder than it is now.
     -
Garth Paine, Associate Professor of Digital Sound and Interactive Media, Arizona State University     

Further Reading

Aircraft noise and incidence of hypertension.
FAA Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise (CLEEN) Program
Drones to deliver incessant buzzing noise, and packages
Neighborhood Environmental Survey and Noise Research Portfolio Webinar | February 22, 2021
FAA Aviation Noise
FAA Fundamentals of Noise and Sound
DOT National Transportation Noise Map
With Sensors on Streets, France Takes Aim at ‘Noise From Hell’ | The French authorities are installing “sound radars” in some cities to detect and photograph vehicles making excessive noise, which they say is a public health hazard.
FAA Neighborhood Environmental Survey
FAA Analysis of the Neighborhood Environmental Survey
FAA Loosens Restrictions on Drone Flights Over People, Automobiles, and at Night
Brought to you by concerned citizens from all across the Front Range and beyond.
  • Background
  • Affected Areas
    • Arapahoe County >
      • City of Aurora
      • City of Centennial
      • City of Cherry Hills Village
      • City of Englewood
      • City of Glendale
      • City of Greenwood Village
      • City of Littleton
      • City of Sheridan
    • City and County of Broomfield
    • Boulder County >
      • City of Boulder
      • City of Erie
      • City of Gunbarrel
      • City of Lafayette
      • City of Longmont
      • City of Louisville
      • Town of Superior
      • Unincorporated Boulder County
    • Jefferson County >
      • City of Arvada
      • City of Edgewater
      • City of Golden
      • City of Lakewood
      • City of Westminster
      • City of Wheat Ridge
  • Front Range Airports
    • Boulder Municipal Airport | BDU
    • Centennial Airport | APA
    • Colorado Springs Municipal Airport | COS
    • Denver International Airport | DIA
    • Erie Municipal Airport | EIK
    • Front Range Airport | CFO
    • Greely-Weld County Airport | GXY
    • Meadow Lake Airport | FLY
    • Northern Colorado Regional Airport | FNL
    • Parkland Estates Airpark
    • Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport | BJC
    • Van Aire Skyport |
    • Vance Brand Municipal Airport | LMO
  • Issues
    • Plane Crashes
    • Lead Exposure
    • Health Impacts
    • Noise Pollution
    • Economic Impact
    • Environmental Impact
    • Proposed Solutions
  • Press
    • Plane Crashes
    • Media Coverage
    • aviation perspectives
  • Contact
  • Get Involved
  • News + Updates