Synthesis of Information Related to Airport Practices (2007)

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Research Results Digest 3 December 2007 INTRODUCTION Airport administrators, engineers, and researchers often face problems for which information already exists, either in docu- mented form or as undocumented experi- ence and practice. This information may be fragmented, scattered, and unevaluated. As a consequence, full knowledge of what has been learned about a problem may not be brought to bear on its solution. Costly re- search findings may go unused, valuable experience may be overlooked, and due consideration may not be given to recom- mended practices for solving or alleviating the problem. There is information on nearly every subject of concern to the airport industry. Much of it derives from research or from the work of practitioners faced with prob- lems in their day-to-day work. To provide a systematic means for assembling and evaluating such useful information and making it available to the entire airport community, the Airport Cooperative Re- search Program authorized the Transporta- tion Research Board to undertake a contin- uing study. This study, ACRP Project 11-03, “Synthesis of Information Related to Airport Practices,” searches out and synthesizes useful knowledge from all SYNTHESIS OF INFORMATION RELATED TO AIRPORT PRACTICES A staff digest of the progress and status of ACRP Project 11-03, “Synthesis of Information Related to Airport Practices,” for which the Transportation Re- search Board is the agency conducting the research. Individual studies for the project are managed by Gail Staba, Senior Program Officer, and Jon Williams, Manager, Synthesis Studies, serving under the Studies and Special Programs Division of the Board, Stephen R. Godwin, Director. Subject Area: Aviation Responsible Senior Program Officer: Robert E. David AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM Sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration Suggestions for synthesis topics may be sent to the ACRP Manager at any time by contacting the Cooperative Research Programs Staff, Transporta- tion Research Board, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001. You can also submit your recommenda- tions at: http://www.trb.org/Studies/ Synthesis/Syntheses.asp “Suggest an ACRP Topic.” Topics suggested must be accompanied by a brief (one or two paragraphs) scope statement including a discussion of the problem. A title (preferably 10 words or less) and the name and affiliation of the submitter are also necessary. Identification of in- formation sources would also be appre- ciated. The ACRP Project Panel meets each year to make the final selections. To be considered at the next annual meeting, all submissions should be re- ceived by October 2008. If a topic is not selected, the problem statement must be resubmitted the following year to be reconsidered. Interested in writing a synthesis? For details, see the Synthesis homepage (address above) under “New Topics.”

available sources and prepares concise, documented reports on specific topics. Reports from this en- deavor constitute an ACRP report series, Synthesis of Airport Practice. THE SYNTHESIS PROGRAM This synthesis series reports on current knowl- edge and practice, in a compact format, without the detailed directions usually found in handbooks or design manuals. Each report in the series provides a compendium of the best knowledge available on those measures found to be most successful in re- solving specific problems. To develop these syntheses in a comprehensive manner and to ensure inclusion of significant knowl- edge, TRB employs a consultant to gather and ana- lyze available information from numerous sources, including airport operations agencies. A panel of ex- perts in the subject area is established to guide the consultant in organizing and evaluating the data col- lected on each topic and to review the synthesis report. For each topic the project objectives are (1) to locate and assemble documented information; (2) to learn what practice has been used for solving or alle- viating the problems; (3) to identify all ongoing re- search; (4) to learn what problems remain largely unsolved; (5) to organize, evaluate, and document the useful information that is acquired; and (6) to disseminate the synthesis information to all who might benefit from it. Each synthesis is an immediately useful docu- ment that records practices that were acceptable within the limitations of the knowledge available at the time of its preparation. New knowledge can be expected to be added to that which is now at hand and eventually the synthesis may need to be up- dated or redone. The readers and users of the syn- theses are in the best position to know when this has occurred. Whenever you believe that a synthe- sis should be updated, it would be appreciated if you would contact TRB and propose a synthesis update by contacting the ACRP Manager, Trans- portation Research Board, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington D.C., 20001. Studies in Progress and Planned for 2008 Work is currently under way on the topics listed in Table 1. Topics selected for the 2008 program are listed in Table 2. Questions on these topics should be addressed to the project study manager, Gail Staba, by e-mail at gstaba@nas.edu, or by phone at 202-334-2116, or the Synthesis Study Manager, Jon Williams by e-mail at jwilliams@nas.edu, or by phone at 202-334-3245. Available Publications The syntheses of airport practice that have been completed under this project are listed in Table 3. Copies of these syntheses can be obtained from the Publications Office, Transportation Research Board, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20001; by calling 202-334-3213; and through the Internet at: http://www.trb.org/trb/bookstore. Please send check orders to: TRB, Lockbox 289, Washington, D.C., 20055 or fax to: 202-334-2519. All ACRP reports are available as online publications (http://www. trb.org/news/blurb_browse.asp?id=138). Selection of Topics ACRP Project Panel 11-03 meets each year to select topics for study using funds from the upcom- ing fiscal year. The membership of this committee is given in Table 4. Current funding allows for initia- tion of about five syntheses per year. These, plus some alternate topics, are selected by the committee at its annual project meeting. 2 Table 1 ACRP SYNTHESIS STUDIES—In Progress as of December 2007 No. Title S03-02 Airport Access Mode Choice Models S02-01 Effects of Aircraft Noise: Research Update on Selected Topics S02-02 Airport Sustainability Practices S03-03 Airport Economic Impact Methods and Models S04-02 Preventing Vehicle–Aircraft Incidents During Winter Operations and Periods of Low Visibility S09-01 Airport Rubber Removal Techniques to Minimize Damage on Grooved Runways S10-02 Common-Use Facilities and Equipment at Airports S10-03 Impact of Airport Pavement Deicing Products on Aircraft and Airfield Infra- structure

The following factors are considered in the se- lection process for synthesis topics: • The topic should address a problem that is widespread enough to generate broad interest in the synthesis. • The topic should be timely and critical with respect to safety, economic, or social impact. • The topic is appropriate if current practice is nonuniform or inconsistent from agency to agency, or if the validity of some practices ap- pears to be questionable. • The quality and quantity of useful available information should indicate a need to organize and compress that which has already been learned and written on the topic. • The topic should not be one where ongoing re- search or other activities in progress might be expected to render the synthesis obsolete shortly after completion. 3 Table 4 ACRP PROJECT PANEL 11-03 Name Affiliation Chair Burr Stewart Port of Seattle Member Gary C. Cathey Caltrans Member Kevin C. Dolliole UCG Associates Member Berta Fernandez Landrum & Brown Member Julie Kenfield Carter & Burgess, Inc. Member Carolyn Motz Hagerstown Regional Airport Liaison Lori Pagnanelli Federal Aviation Administration Liaison Richard Marchi Airport Council International–North America TRB Liaison Christine Gerencher Transportation Research Board ACRP Synthesis Staff Gail Staba Transportation Research Board ACRP Staff Robert E. David Transportation Research Board Table 2 ACRP SYNTHESIS STUDIES— 2008 Projects No. Title S-08-02-03 A Compilation of Airport Noise Programs in Areas Outside DNL 65 S-08-02-04 Approaches to Integrating Airport Planning and National Environmental Policy Act Processes S-08-03-04 Airport System Planning Practices S-08-03-05 Effective Practices for Determining Benefits for Airport Benefit-Cost Analysis S-08-05-01 Intelligent Transportation System Sen- sor Technology for General Aviation Airports Table 3 PUBLISHED ACRP SYNTHESES No. Title 1 Innovative Finance and Alternative Sources of Revenue for Airports (2007) 43 pp., $34 2 Airport Aviation Activity Forecasting (2007) 32 pp., $34 3 General Aviation Safety and Security Practices (2007) 44 pp., $44 4 Counting Aircraft Operations at Small and Non- towered Airports (2007) 33 pp., $44 Each year more topics are suggested for the com- mittee’s consideration than can be programmed for study in Project 11-03. Nevertheless, the continued success of this project depends on a constant supply of worthy synthesis topics. The interest of those who have recommended topics is sincerely appreciated, and they are urged to continue. Candidate topics are suggested by members of the panel and by a variety of other sources, including airport, airline, and state aviation personnel; FAA and TRB committees; aviation organizations; and other practitioners and researchers. Conduct of the Studies Following the project panel’s selection of top- ics, studies are initiated in the order of priority as- signed by the panel. A topic panel consisting of practitioners and researchers is formed for each topic. At its first meeting, this topic panel thor- oughly discusses the topic, refines the scope, sug- gests sources of information, and identifies and se-

lects potential topic consultants based on expres- sions of interest received in response to an industry- wide solicitation. Following this meeting, a consultant is hired to gather information on the topic, synthesize it, and draft a report. Typically, the agreement covers a period of six to seven months. Information gather- ing and preparation of the first draft of the synthesis report takes about four months. This draft is re- viewed by the topic panel with the consultant, often at the second panel meeting. A revised draft is then prepared by the consultant. Subsequent drafts and meetings are scheduled, if needed, although this rarely occurs. After the staff is substantially satisfied with the report, a final draft is sent to members of the topic panel for their last chance to review the report and then to ACRP Project Panel 11-03 for final approval. The report is subsequently published as an ACRP Synthesis of Airport Practice. 4

Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 These digests are issued in order to increase awareness of research results emanating from projects in the Cooperative Research Programs (CRP). Persons wanting to pursue the project subject matter in greater depth should contact the CRP Staff, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001. COPYRIGHT PERMISSION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP.