Influence of Meteorological Factors on Aircraft Pollutant Emissions for Approaching Flights

Pollutant emissions from approaching aircraft are essential sources of environmental and social impacts because of their potential climate change and health damage. To investigate the relationship between meteorological factors and aircraft pollutant emission (i.e., CO, HC, NO_X, and SO₂) during approaches, a modified model of the pollutant emissions was built using BADA model combining meteorological factors, and an approach flight followed IDUMA-1A arrival procedure of Guangzhou Baiyun Airport (CAN) was taken as a case study. The results show: (1) a rise in air temperature caused increasing of CO, HC, and SO₂ emissions and decreasing of NO_X; (2) a rise in air pressure resulted in decrease of all pollutant emissions; and (3) a rise in wind speed led to a U-shaped variation of pollutant emissions. Finally, based on the forecast of aircraft movements at CAN in 2025, the reduction of aircraft pollutant emissions and environmental benefits were calculated under the optimal meteorological conditions.