by Roalt Aalmoes
The Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR)
12:30 – 1:30 pm (UK time)
19th May 2021
Microsoft Team Meeting: Click here to join the meeting
Abstract:
Aircraft noise is the most significant cause of adverse community reaction related to the operation and expansion of airports. For this reason, the Environmental & Policy support department of The Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) conducts research on noise impact caused by aircraft flyovers. To support this research, an aircraft noise simulator is developed called Virtual Community Noise Simulator (VCNS). Its purpose is not only to simulate aircraft noise, but also to visualise the experience to generate an immersive environment for the user. Using a Virtual Reality headset and a binaural representation of the aircraft noise and the ambient environment, a facility is created for reproducible research on noise impact. This simulator has been used in different research projects and in situations with local communities near airports. The facility can also be used to address problems in other domains as well, such as the planning of wind farms, changes to local infrastructures such as new railroads, or new concepts like Urban Air Mobility. A case is made for not only focusing on noise regulations and noise limits, but also address non-acoustical factors such as perception and communication about measures taken.
Biography:
Roalt Aalmoes received his Master’s Degree in Computer Science at the Twente University in Enschede, The Netherlands. He graduated on the topic of video compression over low-bandwidth lines. After his study in 1996, he started working at the NLR to work on safety-critical avionics software for helicopters, and he later joined the Air Traffic Management department to work in National and European projects to enhance capacity and improve safety and efficiency on airports or in airspace. Since 2011, Roalt works at the Environmental and Policy department as senior R&D Engineer. He worked on the implementation of environmental models and has been involved in a number of European projects, such as METROPOLIS, DESTINATE, and ANIMA. For the last couple of years, Roalt has been involved in the development of the Virtual Community Noise Simulator that is used for assessing impact of Aircraft noise, Railway noise, and wind turbine noise for local communities.