New approach to accredited noise monitoring systems according to ISO 20906

Noise is one of the main challenges that airport managers face when reconciling their activities with the environment around them. The recording and monitoring of noise in the environment enable the awareness of the current situation of the municipalities close to the airport and its communication to the affected population. EMS Brüel & Kjær, as a company that manages Noise Monitoring Systems of AENA airports, has obtained ENAC accreditation (National Accreditation Entity recognized in more than 90 countries) as a testing laboratory for continuous monitoring of environmental noise levels in Madrid and Barcelona airports according to ISO 20906 (Unattended monitoring of aircraft sound in the vicinity of airports). Both airports add up to more than 700.000 annual operations and more than 40 noise monitoring terminals. ENAC accreditation in ISO 20906 represents a guarantee in relation to data quality provided by the system. Throughout this article the process of application of the regulation in these airports is summarized, as well as the evaluation of the results obtained, highlighting the procedures of data validation, location analysis, uncertainties calculation, quality assurance, as well as other social interest aspects.