2022 4th Quarter Report

on violations and complaints

The Casper monitoring system installed earlier in 2022 provides a much-improved picture of complaints and the number of people making complaints. Unfortunately, the system no longer provides good information on the location from which those complaints come. The only location information is shown as a "blob" located in the city of origin--thus one can only identify if the complaint is from Torrance or from another city.

This graphic clearly shows that a small number of individuals make a large number of complaints.

Casper System Measures Noise From Traffic Pattern Flights

This graphic shows the typical traffic patterns for the Torrance Airport in relation to the surrounding geography. In the traffic patterns, one will find frequent flights at or below 1,100 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL). Also shown are the locations of the Casper system noise monitors in relation to those traffic patterns and the geography.

Monitor #2 and #3 are located to measure the noise in the north traffic pattern and Monitors #6 and #7 measure the noise in the south traffic pattern.

No Violations in Traffic Patterns

The Casper system records the maximum sound level for each flight. The maximum legal limit for sound levels in Torrance is 82 dbA (shown on this graphic as a red vertical line on the right side). Any flights that registered to the left of this line are within the legal limits.

The distribution peaks for Monitors North #2 and South #7 show higher measurements because these are located in areas where aircraft are still climbing to pattern altitude (1,100 MSL). This is the results when pilots are flying according to the FAA-recommended procedures to make a cross-wind turn at 300 feet below traffic pattern altitude (1,100 MSL).

Use of the "Quiet Procedures" recommended by Torrance Airport Association (no turns until reaching pattern altitude) comply with FAA Regulations, and would result in lower overall noise as is seen for Monitors North #3 and South #6.

None of the flights in the north or south pattern exceeded the limits during the 4th quarter of 2022.

A Historical Perspective

At the end of September 2020, the previous (and very expensive) monitoring system contract was not renewed. As a result, no sound measurements were available until mid August 2022, when the Casper system began operation. As noted above, this system has a monitor located off each end of the runways which also measures and reports noise profiles. Any flight that exceeded the 82 dbA in those profiles was identified as a "possible violation."

Since the $627,078 Casper monitoring system began operation in August of 2022, there have been no reports of the number of confirmed violations of the noise ordinance have been reported. This information has been requested from the Torrance Noise Abatement Office on 3/31/2023, but no response has been received to date.

Approximately one possible violation per day was recorded, for a total of 90 for the quarter. As shown in this graphic, that rate is quite typical over history.