Zurich aircraft noise index

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The Zurich Aircraft Noise Index (ZFI) is a method for calculating the number of people in the vicinity of Zurich Airport who are severely annoyed or severely sleep-disturbed by aircraft noise .

history

The Zurich Aircraft Noise Index was developed by the Zurich Department of Economics under Rita Fuhrer and an independent committee of experts in 2006 in order to make the long-term effects of official and operational measures to reduce noise at Zurich Airport visible and weighable against each other. In contrast to the usual noise assessment practice, which is based on average acoustic level values, the ZFI is determined on the basis of the actual impact of the noise and not solely on the basis of (purely) acoustic exposure. The noise impact determined is also weighted in the ZFI with the number of people who are affected by this impact. The unit of measurement of the ZFI is “number of people”. The more people are affected by aircraft noise, the greater the ZFI. The ZFI can be calculated for a larger area around the airport (perimeter) but also for each individual hectare within this perimeter. It is made up of two components: the number of people who are severely annoyed by aircraft noise while awake during the day (Highly Annoyed: HA) and the number of people who are severely disturbed by aircraft noise while sleeping during the night (Highly Sleep Disturbed: HSD). The two ZFI components are calculated on the basis of the actual aircraft noise exposure in each square hectare of the perimeter using so-called impact functions.

The ZFI at Zurich Airport is influenced by the population density, the approach and departure routes flown, the duration and period of the night flight ban, and the fleet mix. If, for example, densely populated areas are flown over on a large scale, this will lead to an increase in the ZFI if the other benchmarks remain unchanged; if less noisy aircraft is used, the ZFI will decrease and thus create scope to handle additional flight movements . An influx of people into the airport region will also allow the ZFI to grow; however, if there is a return to the historically grown north orientation (see also aircraft noise dispute between Switzerland and Germany ), the ZFI will decrease.

The introduction of the ZFI as an instrument of impact quantification , paired with a benchmark that should not be exceeded, was the core of the counter-proposal of the Zurich Cantonal Council to the "popular initiative for a realistic airport policy", which increases flight movements at Zurich Airport to 250,000 per year and wanted to introduce a nine-hour night flight ban. The counter-proposal consisted of three elements: on the one hand, when 320,000 aircraft movements per year were reached, a decision should be made whether the canton of Zurich should lobby the federal government to restrict flight movements, and on the other hand, the canton should campaign for a seven-hour night flight ban. The third element was the introduction of the ZFI. This stipulates that the authorities of the canton of Zurich work to ensure that the ZFI benchmark of 47,000 severely annoyed or severely disturbed people is not exceeded. To do this, they must take the measures within their competence in good time and influence the airport operator and the federal government. Under the term “ZFI Plus”, a ZFI variant supported by the bourgeois majority in the Zurich Cantonal Council came to a referendum on November 25, 2007. In this version, the ZFI was clearly accepted by the Zurich electorate with 63.2% yes-votes.

criticism

Criticism of the ZFI was voiced from various quarters and the majority of the citizens' organizations around Zurich Airport reject it. In contrast to a (countable) number of flight movements, the structure is too complicated and cannot be understood by laypeople, and it also leaves the airport too much leeway for further growth (for example through the use of quieter aircraft).

Despite the criticism made, the ZFI is an improved instrument for noise assessment, mainly because it is based exclusively on the effect of the noise and also takes into account medical-physiological research results (relationship between maximum levels and wake-up reactions). The calculation method on which the ZFI is based can, however, also be improved from a scientific point of view. z. For example, the wake-up threshold is set intolerably low: According to formula 3-9 on page 12 of the calculation bases, only 1 in 10 people should wake up when a motorized lawnmower (with 75 dB sound level) drives through a dormitory.

It is also criticized that the guideline value - although the authorities should take the measures within their competence to prevent it from being exceeded - was exceeded for the first time in 2008 and in 2013 even identified 57,100 people who were severely disturbed by aircraft noise instead of the maximum of 47,000. This is mainly due to the increase in the number of flights between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. and a change in the routing. Nevertheless, according to some critics, the authorities are not using their influence on the airport operator or on the federal government to enforce the will of the people.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Zurich aircraft noise index ZFI calculation rule - EMPA document be_441255-4_ZFI_V2_L.doc ( Memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Airport Act, Section 3, Paragraph 5
  3. ↑ Popular initiative of July 7, 2004 "For a realistic airport policy": Counter-proposal: Airport Act ( Memento of November 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Sound level of known environmental noises (health report for Germany, 1998)
  5. ↑ Formula 3-9 calculated: Probability of a wake-up reaction (as a function of the maximum noise in the room, at 75 dB) = 0.00001894 x (75dB) 2+ 0.0004008 x 75dB - 0.033243 = 0.1065375 + 0.033243 - 0.033243 = 0.1033 = 10.33 percent
  6. ↑ Zurich aircraft noise index - reference value exceeded - "... The main reason for the increase in the ZFI monitoring value was the increase in flight movements from 10 p.m. to the end of operating hours and the flight routes occupied ..." Press release from November 28, 2013