Integrating aircraft tracking, acoustic data, and surveys to evaluate park aircraft noise

Noise from low-flying aircraft has negative impacts on nature-based tourist experiences, wildlife, and communities in tourist destinations worldwide. Within the United States, some national parks, such as Denali National Park and Preserve (DENA), experience a high volume of low-flying overflights, including from tourism activities like flightseeing tours. We utilized flight tracking data to identify overflight patterns, acoustic monitoring to estimate noise exposure, and visitor surveys to measure visitor thresholds for noise from overflights. Low-flying propeller aircraft flight patterns were identified using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast data. A mean of 21 flights per day occurred in DENA’s frontcountry, the developed area of the park, during the study period (23 June 2023 to 29 July 2023), when visitation is at its peak. Visitor survey data were separated by interest in taking a flightseeing tour. For visitors interested in a flightseeing tour and those not interested, 25 flights or more per day were rated as unacceptable on a Likert scale for acceptability. The maximum sound level visitors may experience while in DENA’s southern frontcountry area is 56 dBA_1s, which we predict will be rated as unacceptable based on previously published data from DENA. These results highlight the impact of low-flying propeller aircraft on visitor experiences. Finally, these methods can be applied in other tourism contexts where overflights are a concern for tourism managers and local communities.