Mather, Air Freight, and Noise

Mather Airport and the Jet Freighter Noise Issue:
Fact checking in 2008
Also see earlier notes on 2003 noise measurements

Nutshell summary:

Evidence for an actual problem with excessive noise is scant to nonexistent.
In almost all cases, freighter overflights are quiet. The loudest approaches are highly infrequent and are still quieter than many other environmental noise sources.
Evidence for a human "noise annoyance" problem (serial/chronic complaints) is overwhelming:
The Folsom/EDH complaint rate (complaints per thousand approaches) probably is a world record by a very large margin. Within the past year complaints from El Dorado Hills and Folsom had been at a rate about 1,000 times higher than for an acoustically similar situation in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This section posts a growing body of fact-check information on the issue of noise from jet freighter approaches over El Dorado Hills. This still-growing body of documentation shows that many of the claims of local noise protesters are incorrect, possibly even most. Some of the claims, such as planned levels of air carrier cargo flight activity at Mather, can be checked easily by reference to documents such as the Mather Airport Master Plan. Claims about actual noise levels and operational details of aircraft overflights must be checked with many types of research.

Detailed Fact Checks
Observations, reports, and claims	Details	Fact Summary
How much noise do freighter approaches actually produce? Complaints say way too much, many homeowners at points with maximum noise exposure say they have no noise problem.	Measured noise levels	This fact check collects new noise measurement samples, using a hand-held meter with calibrated accuracy of ± 1.5 dB. So far the range of measured maximum noise (L_max) directly below the ILS approach in El Dorado Hills is: 58.2 dBA minimum 63.7 dBA average at EDH CSD 66.8 dBA average at EDH west ridge 77.1 dBA maximum Average jet sound level is very slightly louder than a car in a parking lot at a distance of 50 feet and is about 5 to 15 dB quieter than cars and other vehicles passing on Ridgeview at the west ridge measurement point.
Do complaint rates reflect actual noise?	Complaint counts can be dominated by as little as one serial complainer	We have serial complainers, see Noise Complaints. Our noise complaint rates are wildly out of proportion to actual noise. In the first 7 months of 2008 Folsom and EDH generated 864 times more complaints per thousand approaches than Foster City did -- and Foster City has much more noise.
A homeowner reports that freighter approaches wake him up at 4 and 5 a.m. despite his use of earplugs. He lives in Serrano, 1.3 miles from the nearest point on the ILS approach path.	What does the ear hear indoors -- with or without earplugs?	This seems very inconsistent with other known data, analysis shows a sound level discrepancy of at least 52 dB. See Indoor noise level details..
"The Sacramento County intends to expand the Mather Airport Air Cargo Operations, located in Sacramento County, California, to a major Pacific Rim Regional Cargo Hub"	Is Mather planned to become a major international cargo hub?	No, this is simply false. See notes on the Mather Airport Master Plan.
"Aviation is the only transport form not regulated in any significant way to reduce environmental impact."		This statement is incorrect. Aviation noise regulations are substantial; federal noise regulations first went into effect in 1968. See History of aviation noise regulation details..
"It has been projected the number of low altitude aircraft flights will increase to approximately 50 cargo aircraft overflights a day..."	9-13 not 50	This is incorrect. The actual forecast produces a range of 9 to 13 overflights per day, not 50.
Freighters sometimes approach over El Dorado County with their landing gear down.		This is exceptional but it does occur. Standard procedure is to leave the landing gear retracted closer to the airport, usually extending gear when passing a specific point about 6 miles east of the runway threshold. This is south of US 50 and about 5 miles west of El Dorado Hills. See Gear down early for discussion of factors and a summary of what it means in different circumstances.
A Shingle Springs resident has been quoted in the press as saying "Our houses are at 1,500 to 2,000 feet and those planes are at 3,000 feet."		Actual crossing altitudes in the Shingle Springs area are more than double the indicated number. 6,342 feet is the average from all flight track data saved earlier this year and posted here, 4,524 feet was the minimum crossing altitude.
How much does jet noise harm property values? A local web site says "The Sacramento Area would lose over 1 billion dollars of property value if Mather becomes a major cargo hub!"		Property value impact in El Dorado Hills would be zero. We don't have enough noise for it to make a diference. The only areas with homes whose property values are likely to depend on jet noise are new developments adjacent to Mather Airport.

Related pages and sections: UPS turning

Summary of Mather Airport noise regulations ... including illustrations of actual approach and departure paths, defined for noise abatement as well as for aviation safety.
Freighter Approach Logs
Logs summarize all air carrier cargo approaches during four 1-week sample periods from March 1st through June 14th, 2008. These include 196 freighter approaches, with snapshots of flight track maps available for 164 of these. For approaches that overfly El Dorado Hills and Folsom the flight track images show aircraft altitude at the Initial Approach Fix (CAMRR, north of Shingle Springs) and at the western ridge in El Dorado Hills.
Comparison of freighter noise with other environmental noise sources
Graphics showing recently measured noise levels
WebTrak
Tool to view recent flight tracks in the Sacramento area
FlyteComm
Tool to track status of current flights. To track those arriving at Mather enter MHR as the arrival airport in FlyteComm's "Advanced Users" form and click "go".
Selected documents from the Sacramento County Airport System
and other agencies, including the Mather Airport Master Plan

First findings for such fact checks were reported in this packet, which was submitted by mail to the El Dorado Hills Community Services District:

		Letter to EDHCSD
		P.S. to letter
		Annotated CSD resolution
		Excerpts from Mather Master Plan
		Attachment N - Noise Notes
		Graphics for Notes on Jet Freighter Approach Noise

Because of public exposure to noise complaints through news media and meetings of local agencies it is now increasingly common for members of the public to assume that a noise problem exists, that any jet noise they hear is from freighters, and that any noise is excessive. Many reports refer to departure noise: However, there are no freighter departures that overfly El Dorado Hills or the portion of Folsom producing complaints. Jet activity in the area involving relatively low and level flight (at or below 3,000 feet MSL) usually is due to unusual flight paths, mainly involving business jets. Almost all business jets operate at maximum gross weights ranging from about 12,500 pounds to almost 75,000 pounds. Some still use somewhat-older technology engines. Flight tracks have occasionally shown them flying level as low as 1,000 feet above ground level.

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