Aircraft noise is a major environmental issue in areas surrounding airports. The noise exposure forecasting (NEF) method has been adopted in Canada and other countries for land use planning around airports. Specific noise contours have been implemented as rigid guidelines for development near airports, leading to_questioris about the interpretation and validity of these conceptual noise contours for particular locations. A comprehensive survey was conducted to investigate people's attitudes toward noise in an area close to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport in Ottawa, Canada, which has particular geographical conditions. The results revealed that responses related to the degree of annoyance, disturbance, and complaint were lower than results from similar surveys carried out elsewhere. The survey findings showed that noise contours should be considered carefully in areas where geographical characteristics are not the same as those employed in the NEF method. Comments on some field-specific geographical factors are provided to improve land use planning based on NEF contours.

The primary responsibility for integrating noise aspects into the urban planning process rests with local governments. At this level of government, land use compatibility planning has been adopted to guide noise-sensitive land uses away from the noisier areas and encourage nonsensitive land uses. The analysis and development of compatible land use near airports in Canada is based on the noise exposure forecasting (NEF) method (J); in the United States it is based on the day-night average sound level (DNL) method. Both methods are supported by the integrated noise model (INM)(2), which has been adopted by Transport Canada and the FAA. NEF and DNL noise levels correlate well with each other (DNL= NEF+ 35). Forecasting of aviation noise depends on the number of aircraft movements, fleet composition, runway utilization, flight paths in and out of runways, air speed, and engine power during approach and landing procedures as well as atmospheric pressure and temperature distributions and wind directions and velocities.