Gold Coast Airport Aircraft Noise Information Report Quarter 3 2012 (July to September) 1
Version Control Version Number Detail Prepared by Date 1 - Environment 2 November 2012 2 Updated Figure 10 Environment 5 December 2012 3 Updated Figures 13,15 Environment 4 February 2013 Airservices Australia. All rights reserved. This report contains a summary of data collected over the specified period and is intended to convey the best information available from the NFPMS at the time. The system databases are to some extent dependent upon external sources and errors may occur. All care is taken in preparation of the report but its complete accuracy can not be guaranteed. Airservices Australia does not accept any legal liability for any losses arising from reliance upon data in this report which may be found to be inaccurate. 2
Gold Coast Basin - Aircraft Noise Information Report Contents 1. Purpose Page 4 2. Flight patterns Page 6 2.1 Jet aircraft Page 6 2.2 Non jet aircraft Page 8 2.3 Track density plots Page 9 3. Aircraft movements Page 11 3.1 Gold Coast Airport Page 11 4. Noise monitoring Page 16 5. Complaints data Page 19 5.1 NCIS Clients by suburb Page 19 5.2 Issues raised by NCIS clients Page 21 3
1. Purpose This report summarises data for Quarter 3 of 2012 (July to September) from Airservices Noise and Flight Path Monitoring System (NFPMS) and Noise Complaints and Information Service (NCIS) for the Gold Coast area (Gold Coast Airport). 1.1 Gold Coast Airport Gold Coast Airport is located at the southern end of the Gold Coast just west of the Gold Coast Highway adjacent to Bilinga Beach (see Figure 1). The majority of operations at Gold Coast Airport are international and domestic regular passenger services. General aviation also operates from the airport, including some training flights. During Quarter 3 of 2012 there were around 16,000 aircraft movements at Gold Coast Airport. More information about Gold Coast Airport is available from the Airservices website at www.airservicesaustralia.com/aircraftnoise/airportinformation/. 1.2 Aircraft noise monitoring at Gold Coast Airservices NFPMS captures and stores radar, flight plan and noise data. The NFPMS covers eight city regions around Australia. For the Gold Coast region, noise data is captured by two noise monitors - also known as Environmental Monitoring Units (EMUs). 4
Figure 1 Location of Gold Coast Airport. Runway orientation for airport is shown in the insert. Noise monitoring sites are shown as red dots. Figure 1 shows runway configuration at Gold Coast Airport. The main runway at Gold Coast Airport, 14/32, is 2.3 km long, orientated northwest to southeast. There is a smaller 0.6km long cross runway, 17/35, orientated north to south, which is primarily used by propeller aircraft. Information about runway selection is available on the Airservices website at www.airservicesaustralia.com/aircraftnoise/factsheets/. 5
2. Flight patterns 2.1 Jet aircraft Figures 2 and 3 (below) show jet aircraft track plots for arrivals and departures at Gold Coast Airport for Quarter 3 of 2012, coloured according to height (in feet). Noise monitors are shown as grey circles. Figure 2 Jet arrivals for the Gold Coast region, August 2012 (one month) The key points shown by Figure 2 are: The approaches to Runway 14 mostly overfly water. However, the approaches to Runway 32 overfly suburbs to the south of the airport. Suburbs aligned with the runway and to the south are overflown by arriving jets at altitudes below 3000ft. 6
Figure 3 Jet departures for the Gold Coast region, August 2012 (one month) The key points shown by Figure 3 are: The departure flight paths from Runway 14 fly over suburbs to the south and south east of the airport, while departures from Runway 32 tend to overfly water. Departures to the south turn to the west and overfly suburbs to the south west of the airport at altitudes below 5000ft. 7
2.2 Non jet aircraft Figure 4 (below) shows non jet tracks (arrivals and departures) at Gold Coast Airport in Quarter 3 of 2012. Noise monitors are shown as grey circles. Figure 4 Non jet arrivals and departures for the Gold Coast region, August 2012 (one month) The key points shown by Figure 4 are: Although jet aircraft tend to operate along defined paths, when smaller aircraft movements are included on the map, there are no areas of the Gold Coast region that are not overflown by aircraft at some time. There appear to be no clear flight patterns for non-jet aircraft. The circuit pattern (flight training) at Gold Coast Airport is visible as the red ring around the airport. The majority of non-jet aircraft operations in the Brisbane basin are below 3000ft. 8
2.3 Track density plots The track plots in the preceding section show that residents living up to 5km to the north and 15km to the south of Gold Coast Airport and in line with the airport s runways are regularly overflown by jet aircraft below 5000ft. However, beyond this the regularity of flight path use is not discernible from the track plot display. A track density plot can be useful in showing the underlying track patterns. To create a track density plot, the land surface is divided into squares, creating a grid. The average number of flights passing over each square per day is then calculated. By colour coding according to frequency of flights, a track density plot can be illustrated. Figure 5 (below) shows a track density plot for all movements over the Gold Coast region in Quarter 3 of 2012. Noise monitors are shown as grey circles. 9
Figure 5 Track density plot for the Gold Coast region, Quarter 3 of 2012 The key points shown by Figure 5 are: There are distinct flight patterns that are regularly used to and from both Gold Coast Airport, as well as circuits around the airport. There is a concentration of flights along the coast. These are mostly general aviation, including helicopters, often operating tourist flights. Circuit operations at the airport are more clearly defined by the track density plot, as the orange/ red ring to the south of the airport. Two high altitude tracks can be identified (approximately south east to north west and south to north). These are associated with traffic overflying the Gold Coast basin en route to Brisbane air space. 10
3. Aircraft movements 3.1 Airport movements Figure 6 (below) shows aircraft movements at Gold Coast Airport for the 15 month period to the end of Quarter 3 of 2012. Figure 6 Aircraft movements at Gold Coast Airport from July 2011 to September 2012 The key points shown by Figure 6 are: Aircraft movements have been steady over the last fifteen months, with a small increase in jet operations in Quarter 3 of 2012. This has been due to airlines introducing additional services in response to demand. Helicopter movements have been steady at around 500 per month. This represents around 10 per cent of all movements at the airport. Figure 7 (below) shows runway usage for arrivals and departures at Gold Coast Airport for the 15 month period up to the end of Quarter 3 of 2012. Figures 8 and 9 show runway usage over a four year period for the two busiest runways at the airport. Runway selection is based on weather conditions, traffic volume and noise abatement procedures. As the wind changes, the runway in use may change as aircraft primarily take off and land into the wind for safety and performance reasons. 11
Figure 7 Runway usage at Gold Coast Airport to Quarter 3 of 2012 Figure 8 Runway 14 usage at Gold Coast Airport 2009 to 2012 12
Figure 9 Runway 32 usage at Gold Coast Airport 2009 to 2012 The key points shown by Figures 7, 8 and 9 are: Throughout most of the year, the wind at Gold Coast Airport tends to be from the south/ south east. Therefore aircraft tend to use Runway 14, taking off to the south east and arriving from the north. In spring, the wind at Gold Coast Airport tends to be from the north. Therefore aircraft tend to use Runway 32, taking off to the north and arriving from the south. Noise abatement procedures for Gold Coast Airport state that when conditions permit, Runway 14 is the preferred runway (arrivals from the north and departures to the south). Although Gold Coast Airport is operational 24 hours of the day, there is a curfew in place which restricts operations in and out of Gold Coast Airport during the hours of 11.00pm to 6.00am. The details of the curfew are available from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport website: http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/environmental/curfews/. The following aircraft are permitted to operate during the curfew (approved aircraft): Jet aircraft that have a maximum take off weight of up to 34,000 kilos and comply with regulations for noise levels. Propeller-driven aircraft that have a maximum take off weight of up to 34,000 kilos and comply with noise requirements. Any aircraft that received taxi clearance by Air Traffic Control (ATC), or started taxiing for take off when ATC is not available, before the curfew period starts. 13
An aircraft involved in an emergency, or a flight interrupted by an emergency. Emergency includes aircraft being used for search and rescue, medical or natural disaster, security or safety, insufficient fuel or in-flight emergency. Aircraft using Gold Coast Airport as an alternate airport. A quota system, which is managed by the Federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport, operates for certain specified movements during the curfew period: 24 movements (with restrictions) by domestic passenger jets each year; and Four jet freight movements (maximum) each week. Figure 10 shows aircraft movements during curfew hours at Gold Coats Airport from July 2011 to September 2012, by curfew category of aircraft and Figure 11 shows the runway that was used by these aircraft. Figure 10 Curfew movements (11.00pm to 6.00am) at Gold Coast Airport July 2011 to September 2012 by curfew category The key points shown by Figure 10 are: Curfew movements at Gold Coast Airport are small in number on average fewer than one per night. The vast majority of movements during the curfew period are approved aircraft. There are more curfew movements during summer months. 14
Figure 11 Runway usage for night (11.00pm to 06.00am) movements at Gold Coast Airport July 2011 to September 2012 The key points shown by Figure 11 are: During curfew periods, Runway 14 is used slightly more than Runway 32, in line with noise abatement procedures. Helicopter operations at night are not that common, with only 21 movements during curfew hours during Quarter 3 of 2012. 15
4. Noise monitoring Airservices collects noise and operational data from noise monitors (EMUs) around Gold Coast Airport. This data can be expressed in a number of ways, to show average noise during a period, background noise levels and number of noise events over a certain threshold. Sound is measured on a logarithmic scale with the decibel (db(a)) as the unit of measure. The sound level of typical daytime urban-based activities can vary between 40dB(A) and 80dB(A). The sound levels in a nightclub often exceed 90dB(A). Figures 14 to 25 below show data from the two Gold Coast noise monitors for the last fifteen months (see Figure 1 for the location of EMUs). The terms used within each of these figures are: LAeq 24hr: The continuous equivalent noise level over a 24 hour period, including noise from aircraft and the wider environment. LAeq night: The continuous equivalent noise level over the night time period (hours of 11:00pm to 6:00am) Background L 90 db(a) (L90): The sound level that is exceeded 90% of the time over a 24 hour period effectively removing noise from instantaneous events such as passing aircraft to provide a background level. N65: The average number of daily noise events caused by aircraft that are over 65dB(A). Figures for N70, N80 and N90 are also provided. 16
Figure 12 Average daily noise events at EMU 1 (Tugun) from Quarter 3 of 2011 to Quarter 3 of 2012 (captures arrivals to Runway 14 and departures from Runway 32) Average Number of Noise Events Per Day 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 Q3_2011 Q4_2011 EMU 1 Q1_2012 Q2_2012 Q3_2012 N65 N70 N80 N90 Figure 13 Average noise levels at EMU 1 to Quarter 3 of 2012 The key points shown by Figures 12 and 13 are: The number of N65 and N70 noise events captured by EMU 1 between April 2012 and September 2012 has declined slightly. The number of N80 noise events has reduced sharply in Quarter 3 of 2012. Airservices will monitor readings from this noise monitor during future quarters. Night time noise levels are very close to background noise levels at EMU 1, suggesting that aircraft noise contributes little to night time noise levels. Both background noise levels and night time noise levels at EMU 1 were higher in Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 of 2012, suggesting that sources unrelated to aircraft were responsible for the increase. 17
Figure 14 Average daily noise events at EMU 3 (Banora Point) from Quarter 3 of 2011 to Quarter 3 of 2012 (captures arrivals to Runway 32 and departures from Runway 14) Average Number of Noise Events Per Day 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 Q3_2011 Q4_2011 EMU 3 Q1_2012 Q2_2012 Q3_2012 N65 N70 N80 N90 Figure 15 Average noise levels at EMU 3 to Quarter 3 of 2012 Figures 14 and 15 show that noise levels have been steady over the fifteen month period shown. 18
5. Complaints data Airservices manages complaints and enquiries about aircraft noise and operations through its Noise Complaints and Information Service (NCIS). Complaints, enquiries and requests for information about aircraft operations received by the NCIS are collected and stored in a database for the purpose of complaint management, analysis of issues and identification of causal factors. Each complaint, enquiry or request for information is referred to as a contact and each person who makes contact with the NCIS is referred to as a client. 5.1 NCIS Clients by suburb The NCIS received contacts from 127 clients from Gold Coast Airport during Quarter 3 of 2012. Client density maps are used to show the number of clients from each suburb, with suburbs coloured according to how many clients had contacted the NCIS. The data does not include clients who contacted other organisations (eg. airports). Table 1 (table below) provides a breakdown of clients from July to September 2012. Figure 16 (below) shows client density with sample flight tracks overlaid for Gold Coast Airport for Quarter 3 of 2012. Table 1 Recorded Contacts July to September 2012 Suburb Client Not Specified 2 ASHMORE 1 BANORA POINT 19 BIGGERA WATERS 1 BILAMBIL 1 BROADBEACH WATERS 1 CABARITA BEACH 1 CHINDERAH 1 CURRUMBIN 3 ELANORA 2 FINGAL HEAD 59 KINGSCLIFF 9 MIAMI 1 PALM BEACH 1 TALLEBUDGERA 1 TERRANORA 1 TUGUN 6 TWEED HEADS 5 TWEED HEADS SOUTH 9 TWEED HEADS WEST 2 WOOYUNG 1 Total 127 Table 1 shows that the suburb with the highest number of clients is Fingal Head. 19
Figure 16 Client density by suburb with an overlay of tracks for sample period 20 July, 16 August, 26 September and 28 September 2012 at Gold Coast Arrivals Departures Local operations including circuits Figure 16 shows that the two suburbs with the highest number of NCIS clients, Fingal Head and Banora Point, are both located to the south of the airport and are affected by noise from departures from Runway 14 and Banora Point is also affected by arrivals to Runway 32. 20
5.2 Issues raised by NCIS clients Figure 18 (below) shows the top five issues raised by clients re. Gold Coast Airport for the 15 month period to the end of Quarter 3 of 2012. A single contact can involve multiple issues (ie. a complainant may have raised more than one issue when they contacted the NCIS). During Quarter 3 of 2012, the issues raised by the greatest number of clients were: Jet Aircraft, Runway 14 Departures, Aircraft Height, Flight Paths/Diversions and Runway 32 Arrivals. Figure 17 Top five issues for Gold Coast Airport for the 15 month period, July 2011 to September 2012 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jul-11 Aug-11 Sep-11 Oct-11 Nov-11 Dec-11 Jan-12 Feb-12 Mar-12 Apr-12 May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12 JET AIRCRAFT 14 DEP AIRCRAFT HEIGHT FLIGHT PATHS / DIVERSIONS 32 ARR Figure 17 shows that client trends are seasonal, reflecting usage of Runway 14 for departures. 21
Contact us To lodge a complaint or make an enquiry about aircraft operations, you can: go to WebTrak (www.airservicesaustralia.com/aircraftnoise/webtrak/) use our online form (www.airservicesaustralia.com/aircraftnoise/aboutmaking-a-complaint/) telephone 1800 802 584 (freecall) or 1300 302 240 (local call Sydney) fax (02) 9556 6641 email ncis@airservicesaustralia.com or write to, Noise Complaints and Information Service, PO Box 211, Mascot NSW 1460. Airservices welcomes comments about this report. Please contact us via e-mail at community.relations@airservicesaustralia.com if you would like to provide feedback. 22