AEDT 4a was released on January 28, 2026 and is the latest version of AEDT. For existing AEDT licensed users who wish to upgrade to AEDT 4a, the upgrade price is $170 for each existing seat license. Please see the Pricing page for upgrade costs and new AEDT license costs.
All FAA actions requiring noise, fuel burn or emissions modeling and for which the environmental analysis process has begun on or after January 28, 2026 are required to use AEDT 4a (build 247.0.25322.1).
Guidance on the version of AEDT to be used is outlined in the FAA Memorandum: "Guidance on determining which version of the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) to use for FAA actions and studies".
AEDT Version 4a Highlights
AEDT 4a includes the following updates and improvements:
- Support for Microsoft Windows 11
- Esri upgrade to ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET v200.8
- Microsoft .NET 8 upgrade
- Addition of helicopter fixed-point profiles
- Addition of helipad-to-helipad operation type and track type
- Expansion of helicopter spectral class format
- Support for aircraft Lead (Pb) emissions & dispersion modeling
- MOVES5 data update for Ground Support Equipment (GSE) fuel sulfur content
- Addition of Non-standard modeling report for use in non-default submittals to FAA
- BADA 3 climb calculation updated to use full thrust by default
- Modeling of noise with structures (feature available upon request)
- Airport, Fleet and Study database updates
BADA License Requirement for AEDT 4a
If you are a new AEDT user, please refer to the AEDT purchasing steps in the Pricing page.
Existing AEDT 3 users do not need to re-apply for the "BADA license for AEDT 4" in order to upgrade to AEDT 4a.
System Requirements and Specifications
The recommended specifications are listed with suggested minimums where applicable.
AEDT can be installed as a standalone application or as a client-server application (using a remote Microsoft SQL Server).
Administrative privileges are required to install AEDT.
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AEDT 4a System Requirements
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Minimum
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Noise Only
(Recommended)
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Emissions Dispersion and Multi-Airport Studies (Recommended)
1 |
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Operating System
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Microsoft Windows 11 (x64) |
Microsoft Windows 11 (x64) or
Windows Server 2022 |
Microsoft Windows 11 (x64) or
Windows Server 2022 |
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Processor
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Modern dual core processor with
2 GHz or higher clock
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Modern many core (>2) processors with
2 GHz or higher clock
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Modern many core (>2) processors with
2 GHz or higher clock
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RAM
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8 GB Memory
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16 GB Memory
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64 GB Memory or more
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Hard Disk Space
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100 GB Storage
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500 GB Storage
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500 GB Solid State Drive (SSD) for single airport emissions dispersion
4 TB or more SSD for large scale emissions analysis
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Microsoft
SQL Server
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Express Edition,
Version 2022 |
Standard / Enterprise Edition,
Version 2022 |
Standard / Enterprise Edition,
Version 2022,
running on the SSD |
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Other Software |
Adobe Acrobat Reader
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Adobe Acrobat Reader
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Adobe Acrobat Reader
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1 While it is possible to generate emissions dispersion metric results with less than the recommended configuration, the time required for those runs to complete will be significantly longer.
AEDT 4a Documentation
- AEDT 4a User Manual (PDF), last updated 1/28/2026
- AEDT 4a Technical Manual (PDF), last updated 1/28/2026
- AEDT 4a Installation Manual (PDF), last updated 1/28/2026
- AEDT Supplemental Manual: ASIF Reference (PDF), last updated 1/28/2026
- AEDT Supplemental Manual: Quick Start Tutorial (PDF), last updated 1/28/2026
- AEDT Supplemental Manual: Using MOVES with AEDT 4a (PDF), last updated 1/28/2026
- AEDT Supplemental Manual: Background Concentrations in AEDT (PDF), last updated 1/28/2026
- Functionality Comparison AEDT, INM, EDMS (PDF), last updated 1/28/2026
- High Level Comparison of AEDT and Legacy Tools (PDF), last updated 6/3/2016
For Further Information
If you have any questions regarding the features of AEDT, please contact us at aedt-support@dot.gov.