Researched the feasibility of backblast noise (low frequency noise) mitigation.

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1 The Monitor Winter 2010 Issue Working together for quieter skies Message from the Hon. Mark Church, Roundtable Chairperson and Member, County of San Mateo Board of Supervisors The Roundtable is a unique organization. There is no local, state, or federal mandate for it to exist. Since its creation in 1981, it has proven itself to be a highly effective forum for addressing airport noise issues. During the past twenty-eight years of cooperation with San Francisco International Airport (SFO), local aircraft noise-impacted communities, the federal government, and the airlines operating at SFO, the Roundtable has facilitated numerous aircraft noise mitigation achievements to improve the quality of life for residents who are impacted by airport noise, whether the noise was generated on or close to the Airport or miles away. The following is a sample of Roundtable accomplishments from : Adopted a No Noise Shift policy, which means the Roundtable will not knowingly take any action that will result in the shifting of aircraft noise from one community to another related to SFO operations. Produced a noise abatement training video for airline pilots. Established the Fly Quiet Program to grade the airlines operating at SFO on their ability to fly quietly and be good neighbors to the community. The Roundtable is currently producing a video about the Program. Established the annual Jon C. Long Fly Quiet Program Awards to honor specific airlines for their efforts to help reduce aircraft noise impacts in the environs of SFO. Researched the feasibility of backblast noise (low frequency noise) mitigation. Researched sound insulation options to mitigate aircraft noise in modular school classroom buildings. Analyzed the feasibility of developing a Ground Run-Up Enclosure (GRE) at SFO to mitigate noise from aircraft maintenance activities. Maintained an on-going evaluation of local area flight patterns, including advocating for a 1,000-foot increase in the altitude at the MENLO intersection (navigational fix) for aircraft arrivals to SFO and a 2,000-foot increase in the altitude at the Woodside VOR (navigational aid) for specific SFO arrivals. About the San Francisco International Airport/ Community Roundtable One of the oldest and most respected community-based airport noise mitigation organizations in the country, the San Francisco International Roundtable is often cited as a model of intergovernmental cooperation that works with key stakeholders to mitigate community noise impacts from airport/aircraft operations. Established in 1981, the Roundtable s 45 representatives and alternates are elected and appointed officials that represent the City and County of San Francisco, the County of San Mateo, and 18 cities in San Mateo County. The Roundtable is a voluntary committee that monitors a performancebased noise mitigate program implemented by airport staff, interprets community concerns, and attempts to achieve aircraft noise mitigation through the pursuit of feasible actions implemented by the appropriate agency. The committee meets bi-monthly, as a public forum and welcomes public input and participation. For more information: Continued participation on the Advisory Board of the FAA Center of Excellence Partnership for Air Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER), a national research effort to analyze feasible mitigation actions to address aviation noise and emissions impacts. The impressive list of accomplishments demonstrates the success of all stakeholders working together to address common issues. The Roundtable will continue to work with key Airport management, the FAA, the airlines serving SFO, local elected officials, and the public to pursue all feasible actions to mitigate noise from aircraft operations at San Francisco International Airport. We welcome your input and participation in this cooperative effort.

2 From John L. Martin, Director - San Franciso International Airport I am sure everyone who has worked with or been a part of the Roundtable has his or her own idea as to what has been the key element to its success. From my perspective, it goes to the very name of the organization: the San Francisco International Roundtable. The Community in this case is not just limited to the surrounding cities and towns, but it also includes the aviation community, the airlines, the airport, and the FAA, as well. This emphasis on being part of the community is not lost on the Airport. San Francisco International Airport is committed to being a productive, supportive, and most of all, a respectful member of our community. To accomplish this goal we, as an organization, must understand and appreciate not only the benefits we bring to these communities in terms of jobs, revenue, and other opportunities, but the challenges as well, such as traffic, noise, and air quality impacts. Future Meetings 2010 Roundtable Public Meetings February 3, 7pm April 7, 7 pm June 2, 7pm October 6, 7 pm December 1, 7 pm Location: David Chetcuti Community Room Millbrae City Hall 450 Popular Ave. Millbrae, CA Being a good and fair steward of our environment is one of the guiding principles of the Airport. Over the past several years, in addition to our commitment to mitigating the effects of aircraft noise, we have also been working diligently to minimize our other environmental impacts. The expanded use of solar power for our buildings, the continued use of incentives to convert vehicles that operate on the Airport to alternative-fuels and zero-emissions, and the ever increasing goal to reduce waste and improve our recycling efforts, are just some of the projects the Airport has been working on to meet our overall goal of exercising our environmental responsibility and operating in harmony with the community. While these projects are large-scale and certainly noteworthy, there is a smaller and much simpler project that SFO has been working on this year that I believe demonstrates our commitment to being a good neighbor. In November 2009, the Airport turned over the keys to a community garden to the faculty and students at Belle Air School in San Bruno. The garden, built on Airport property adjacent to the school, will now be used by all of the students, as part of their daily curriculum. The Belle Air School garden, while overwhelmingly low-tech and simple, is a perfect example of why the Roundtable, after more than twenty-eight years of service, continues to achieve positive results. Just as the students at Belle Air School must now work together to see positive results in their garden, the Airport and the surrounding communities must continue to work together to achieve success for each other. It s in the best interest of the Airport to support the communities and it s in the best interests of the communities to support the Airport. The Airport is proud to be an environmentally conscious member of the community and a partner with the Roundtable. About San Francisco International Airport SFO offers non-stop links with more than 30 international points on 25 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with more than 65 cities in the U.S. on 20 domestic airlines. SFO was voted "North America's Best Airport" in 2008 by passengers for its outstanding customer service and amenities. For more information visit www. flysfo.com

3 Did You Know? Steven Alverson, Roundtable Coordinator As the economy recovers and air traffic increases at airports across the country, aircraft noise will remain a challenging environmental issue. Many airports will seek new and innovative ways to address their noise problems. They often turn to Roundtable Coordinator Steve Alverson, who has spent the last 29 years performing aircraft noise analyses and developing aircraft noise control strategies for more than 150 airports. Steve also has substantial experience in Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150 and FAR 161 noise studies, noise elements for airport master plans, public involvement programs, environmental impact assessments, litigation support and expert testimony. Steve also was the first airport noise officer for the City and County of Denver at Stapleton International Airport. During his five years at Denver, he implemented one of the most comprehensive aircraft noise control programs in the United States. In addition, he served as the acting Airport Noise Program Manager for the Sacramento County Airport System. As senior vice president and director of the Airports Group for ESA, a broad-based environmental consulting company, Steve has participated in, analyzed, or directed aircraft noise measurements at more than 40 airports, plus aircraft noise modeling efforts for more than 70 airports. He has been instrumental in aircraft noise and operations monitoring systems (NOMS) projects covering 38 airports ranging from general aviation to air carrier airports. Steve also served as the project manager for the development of technical specifications for San Francisco International Airport s state-of-the-art Aircraft Noise and Operations Monitoring System (ANOMS), which was unveiled in March Known as ANOMS 8, the system is the leading edge technology that affords the Airport staff the ability to perform complex and in-depth analysis of aircraft noise and flight tracks. The integration of all of the components ensures that the community and local officials will have at their disposal, the most accurate noise and flight track data available. SFO s ANOMS 8 is a state-of-the-art tool that the Airport staff utilizes on a daily basis to respond to aircraft noise complaints and to monitor the Fly Quiet Program. It provides reliable technical data on where aircraft fly and what noise levels are being generated in the community. A great deal of the Roundtable s work is informed by the data from the system. said Alverson. The ANOMS 8 software is continuously being updated. Therefore, I would expect that it will serve SFO and the community well into the next decade. Contact Us The Roundtable encourages public input. To express your concerns or learn more about its activities: Letter: Roundtable, 1828 El Camino Real Suite 705 Burlingame, CA Phone: 650/ or 650/ connie.shields@flysfo.com or dcarbone@co.sanmateo. ca.us For more information about ANOMS and other software and technologies SFO utilizes to measure airport community noise, contact Steve Alverson, Roundtable Coordinator, at salverson@esassoc.com or (877) ESA-7901.

4 Noise 101 Part One San Francisco International Roundtable members and the public are invited to attend Noise 101, annual workshops. This educational effort exposes the participant to many of the key terms, acronyms, and other aircraft noise related references that are considered aviation industry standards. The San Francisco International Airport Aircraft Noise Abatement Office staff facilitates these workshops. This is the first in a series of articles about the purpose and content of the Noise 101 workshops. Below is some basic information about noise and how aircraft noise is measured. What is noise? Noise is unwanted sound. Noise is subjective, meaning it s a matter of personal experience. The Noise Abatement Office measures sound, not noise. Sound levels are related to annoyance and activity interference in other words, to what extend noise impacts what you do and affects your health. What is sound pressure? Sound pressure is any pressure variation that the human ear can detect. It consists of very small variations above and below atmospheric pressure. Standard atmospheric variations associated with weather occur much slower and are much larger than sound pressure variations we hear. What is our exposure to noise in the environment? Nature contributes to our noise exposure. Wind in the trees, birds chirping, dogs barking, waves crashing all are examples of environmental noise. Human activity also contributes to our noise exposure cars, trucks, mowers, leaf blowers, schools, sirens, arterials, freeways, etc. The more urban our environment, the greater our level of noise exposure. How is noise measured? There are a number of metrics used to describe noise. Together, they form the basis for the majority of noise analysis, including aircraft noise. Important Links San Francisco International Roundtable (includes membership list) SFO Aircraft Noise Abatement Office NoiseQuest Caltrans Division of Aeronautics planning/ aeronaut Sound is measured in decibels, referred to as db. Decibels measure a scale from the threshold of human hearing, 0 db, upward towards the threshold of pain, about db. Because decibels are such a small measure, they are computed logarithmically and cannot be added arithmetically. As an example, an increase of ten db is perceived by human ears as a doubling of noise. dba, or A-weighted decibels, as they are called, adjust sound pressure towards the frequency range of human hearing. dbc, known as C-weighted decibels, can be used to consider the impacts of certain low-frequency operations, even though they are less consistent with human hearing than A-weighting. Low-frequency noise is common as background noise in urban environments. Community Noise Equivalent or CNEL is a noise metric required by the California Airport Noise Standards for use by airports to measure aircraft noise. The noise exposure level of a single aircraft event measured over the time between the initial and final points when the noise level exceeds a predetermined threshold is referred to as the Single Event Noise Exposure Level. It is important to distinguish single event noise levels from cumulative noise levels such as CNEL. Single event noise level numbers are generally higher than CNEL numbers, because CNEL represents an average noise level over a period of time (usually a year). A single sound impacts everyone differently. No object or event makes the exact same sound twice. Understanding the impact of noise on our environment is a key component to maintaining healthy communities, and the purpose of the San Francisco International Roundtable. Look for Noise 101 Part 2 in a future edition of The Monitor. SFO maintains a state-ofthe-art permanent noise monitoring system to keep track of noise levels. Information gathered from 29 monitors located around the Bay Area and four portable units is central to the operations of SFO s Aircraft Noise Abatement Office. See below for a detailed view.

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