AEROMAPS PLATFORM

AeroMAPS is an open-source software, also available as a web application (https://aeromaps.eu/) for performing multidisciplinary assessment of prospective scenarios for air transport. By playing on the sector’s transition levers, AeroMAPS users can define the scenarios whose impact they wish to analyze. For example, the introduction of new aircraft types, the use of new fuels or the rate of growth in air traffic.

Developed using the Python programming language and easy to use via Jupyter Notebooks or graphical user interfaces, it enables the rapid exploration of various decarbonisation strategies for research or decision-making audiences. Several scientific computing packages are used to facilitate the modular assembly of models and solve complex numerical problems. The framework is structured around various models derived from the academic literature and newly developed ones. In particular, it can be used to model various components of the air transport system (air traffic, aircraft fleet, energy carriers), assess its environmental (climate and energy resources) and cost impacts, and perform environmental sustainability analyses.

Future developments are integrated over time to improve existing models, complete environmental analyses and continue extending to other disciplinary fields (economics, regulation, sociology…).

Research work has recently taken on a socio-economic dimension with a PhD prepared by Antoine Salgas, in partnership with TBS Education. Antoine Salgas has also created a traffic and emissions inventory in collaboration with the Dutch Delft University of Technology. These two aspects of his thesis have given rise to an AeroMAPS “satellite” tool, called AeroSCOPE, which enables analyses to be partitioned and regionalized.

Other ongoing research projects conducted by post-doctoral fellow Felix Pollet, in partnership with Airbus, and PhD student Paco Viry on life cycle assessment and fleet renewal have recently enriched the platform.

To enhance the user experience and make it accessible to decision-makers, a previous partnership was formed with Sopra Steria, a major tech player, to design the platform’s new web interface, now easily handled by non-experts.

To contact the research team: aeromaps@isae.fr