A transdisciplinary research design to a study of aircraft noise and environmental health is applied using Sydney Airport as a case study. This paper describes the trans-disciplinary approach taken, and gives an overview of the methods, key findings and policy implications of this social survey research. The areas covered are: 1. the review of the disciplinary knowledge about epidemiology, social surveys, characteristics of environmental noise (especially aircraft noise), and the effects of environmental noise on community; 2. an overview of practices of aircraft noise management strategies in major commercial airports; 3. the development of a comprehensive health survey instrument for the evaluation of community health and wellbeing impacts by aircraft noise that draws on the international health self-assessment form, SF-36;4. the development of a ‘new’ noise index to describe and assess aircraft noise that is easily understood by a layperson, and fully reflects community responses toward aircraft noise; and 5. statistical methods to explore two core research questions. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E213716.
Abstract