A priority for the Aviation Environmental Tools Suite development effort is to quantify uncertainty from the tools and the associated analysis inputs and assumptions. This research initiative will include uncertainty quantification of each tool at major development milestones, as well as a system-wide analysis of the entire suite. This UQ effort includes sensitivity to inputs and fidelity analyses that will provide an indication of uncertainty in analyses performed using the Tools Suite.
The assessment research initiative is informing further development of the Aviation Environmental Tools Suite and use of analyses conducted for ICAO/CAEP and NextGen.
The Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction, a multi-university research collaborative headquartered at MIT, is leading the system level Aviation Environmental Tools Suite assessment effort for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, NASA and Transport Canada. The developers for each tool lead their tool-specific uncertainty quantification.
The Aviation Environmental Tools Suite assessment effort is a research initiative, rather than a discrete model. As the research matures, results will be published.
Aviation's environmental impact may constrain future aviation growth if it is not reduced. Policies leading to positive changes in one aspect (e.g., engine noise) may worsen the impact of others (e.g., emissions). Policy-makers, researchers and others require a research tools that allow for the investigation of all potential environmental dependencies simultaneously, while providing a full assessment of costs and benefits. The key drivers for the Aviation Environmental Tools Suite assessment effort are:
Tools Suite Uncertainty Quantification.
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