Challenges in Advanced Air Mobility Noise Prediction - From Source to Perception

Kurzfassung

Advanced air mobility (AAM) concepts introduce new challenges for aircraft noise and annoyance prediction due to low-altitude operations, proximity to populated areas, and highly distributed propulsion systems. Traditional aircraft noise prediction and assessment methods are insufficient to capture the acoustic characteristics of AAM aircraft and operations. This review paper provides an overview of key challenges in AAM noise and annoyance prediction, covering the complete chain from noise generation to human perception. The requirements from the view of a three-stage evaluation approach, assessing noise at the component, total aircraft, and fleet or airport scenario level are derived. At the component level, limitations of current tonal and broadband propeller noise models are discussed. At the aircraft level, the integration of multiple propulsion units and installation effects are identified as a major challenge. Furthermore, complex trajectories and routing in urban environments are considered. The final scenario stage is the assessment of multiple aircraft, heterogeneous fleets and varying business cases. Also the relevance of psychoacoustic metrics and perception-based assessment methods are highlighted, emphasising the need for integrated, perception-oriented noise prediction frameworks for urban and regional AAM applications.