Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) Version 2c

Note that the information on this page is for AEDT 2c. Please visit the AEDT Version 3g page for information on the latest version of AEDT.

All FAA actions requiring noise, fuel burn or emissions modeling and for which the environmental analysis process has begun on or after September 12th, 2016 are required to use AEDT 2c. Additional information on the use of AEDT versions and their modifications is outlined in a versioning memo available on the AEDT website.

AEDT Version 2c Functionality

A high level summary of AEDT 2c functionalities is listed below:

  • All noise, emissions, and emissions dispersion metrics from INM, EDMS, and AEDT 2a
  • Building and editing of flight tracks in the user interface
  • Emissions dispersion from curved flight tracks
  • Emissions from airplane and helicopter startup and taxi phases of flight
  • Airplane taxi delay and sequence modeling
  • Noise from helicopter taxi
  • Emissions from auxiliary power units, ground support equipment, and a wide variety of other non-aircraft emissions sources
  • Modeling of multiple airports in a single study
  • Creation of custom altitude controls for airplanes
  • Time audible noise metrics
  • Fuel consumption and emissions for military aircraft
  • Number above noise level
  • Background emissions concentrations
  • Environmental justice population identification
  • Dynamic grid support for all dB-based noise metrics
  • Emissions dispersion contouring and output selection – ability to select specific source groups, averages, and rankings
  • Centralized feature control

More details about the differences between INM, EDMS, AEDT 2a and AEDT 2c are summarized in the AEDT 2c Functionality Comparison chart.

AEDT does not include on-road mobile ground emissions sources like roadways and parking lots because EPA replaced MOBILE (the on-road mobile ground emissions model included with EDMS) with the Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES) in 2013. Emissions for on-road mobile sources and construction equipment, a non-road emissions source, will be estimated through MOVES. AEDT, however, provides functionality to the user to import the emissions of these sources and model them for their air quality impacts. The FAA provided guidance for using AEDT together with MOVES for studies that include on-road mobile ground and construction emissions (see Using MOVES with AEDT 2c).

System Requirements and Specifications

The recommended specifications are listed with suggested minimums where applicable. AEDT is a stand-alone Windows based application. However, through the use of Microsoft SQL Server connectivity, it is possible to connect multiple computational clients to one central database server. AEDT requires administrative privileges for installation and execution.

  AEDT 2c Service Pack 2 System Requirements
Minimum Preferred For Running Global Level Studies
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 (x64) Microsoft Windows 7 (x64) or
Windows Server 2012
Microsoft Windows 7 (x64) or
Windows Server 2012
Processor Modern dual core processor with
2 GHz or higher clock
Modern many core (>2) processors with
2 GHz or higher clock
Modern many core (>2) processors with
2 GHz or higher clock
RAM 8 GB Memory 16 GB Memory 64 GB Memory
Hard Disk Space 100 GB Storage 500 GB Storage 2 TB Storage RAID
Microsoft
SQL Server
SQL Server 2012 Express or
SQL Server 2008 R2 Express
SQL Server 2012 or
SQL Server 2008 R2
SQL Server 2012 or
SQL Server 2008 R2
Other Software Adobe Reader X (v10) or higher Adobe Reader X (v10) or higher Adobe Reader X (v10) or higher

Use Microsoft Update to ensure your computer has the latest priority updates. Visit www.update.microsoft.com.

AEDT 2c Documentation

Documentation for AEDT 2c may be updated over time; please check back occasionally for updates.

For Further Information

If you have any questions regarding the features of AEDT, please contact us at aedt-support@dot.gov.