The new Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) offers enhanced aircraft arrival and departure profile modeling capabilities that allow users to more accurately define operational procedures and better estimate environmental impacts. The AEDT contains standard departure and approach profiles for every aircraft type in its database. These standard profiles and their associated aircraft performance data have been developed by the FAA in collaboration with the aircraft manufacturers to ensure valid three-dimensional flight trajectories that lie within the aircraft performance envelope. However, through the implementation of NextGen capabilities, aircraft are using arrival and departure profiles that are not found in AEDT. As a result, practitioners often develop customized profiles that require FAA approval to incorporate them into their modeling effort, a complex and lengthy process. Research is needed to develop additional model approach and departure profiles that can be added as standard profiles to AEDT and to help users develop customized aircraft arrival and departure profiles for use in AEDT.

The objectives of this research are to develop: (1) standard model aircraft approach and departure profiles that are not currently in AEDT, (2) methods to model customized aircraft approach and departure profiles using AEDT, and (3) technical guidance for selecting appropriate aircraft approach and departure AEDT profiles, including customized profiles, for specific user situations.

Accomplishment of the project objectives will require at least the following tasks.