Aviation emissions transport and long-term characterization of ultrafine particles in and around airports. Introduction of the project AVIATOR

Emissions from aircraft have adverse effects on air quality in and around airports and can contribute to public health concerns within neighboring communities. Routine air quality monitoring at airports generally focus on regulated air pollutants. However, recent work has shown that aircraft exhaust emissions are a major source of UFP (<0.1μm) in and around airports. This is creating significant concern as the health and environmental impact of UFP is currently insufficiently understood. AVIATOR (Assessing aViation emission Impact on local Air quality at airports: TOwards Regulation) is a European proposal which will adopt a multi-level measurement, modelling and assessment approach to develop an improved description and quantification of the relevant aircraft engine emissions, and their impact on air quality under different climatic conditions. Engine generated particulate matter (PM) and gaseous emissions in test-cell and on-wing from an in-service aircraft will be measured to determine pollutant plume evolution from the engine and APU exhaust. This will provide an enhanced understanding of emitted pollutants, and the scalability between the regulatory test-cell and real-world environments. Specific attention will be focused on non-volatile PM and volatile PM (down to