Evaluation of environmentally optimal descent and take-off slopes for existing and novel aircraft

Abstract

Descent and takeoff slopes of civil aircraft influence the associated noise and emissions impact around airports. Steep take-off and approach procedures are expected to reduce the noise footprint around airports whereas they could offer local air quality benefits as well. This paper appraises the optimal descent and take-off slopes in terms of noise and emissions for existing civil aircraft, as well as fora future blended wing-body (BWB) concept aircraft. The effect of the interdependencies between noise and emissions is demonstrated, whereas estimated Noise-Power-Distance (NPD) curves for the steep operations are presented. It is shown that a common optimum slope for both environmental concerns is unlikely to occur and that generally, noise benefits come to the expense of increased fuel consumption. However, it is also highlighted that new, more flexible ways of expressing the noise and emissions interdependencies may be required in order to determine optimum slopes more realistically.

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ORCID for Antonio Torija Martinez: orcid.org/0000-0002-5915-3736

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