Secondary sonic boom predictions for U.S. coastlines

Area of Science:

• Acoustics
• Atmospheric science
• Aerospace engineering

Background:

• Supersonic travel generates sonic booms.
• Secondary sonic booms occur when atmospheric conditions refract sound waves towards the ground.
• Understanding their impact on communities is crucial for supersonic flight integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the behavior of secondary sonic booms on U.S. coastlines.
• To understand the impact of supersonic travel on communities.
• To analyze seasonal variations and geographical differences in secondary sonic boom occurrences.

Main Methods:

• Utilized NASA's PCBoom software, expanded for secondary boom propagation.
• Simulated secondary sonic boom propagation under various atmospheric conditions.
• Analyzed seasonal and geographical variability of secondary sonic boom arrival locations.

Main Results:

• Secondary sonic booms predominantly affect the U.S. East Coast during summer.
• Secondary sonic booms predominantly affect the U.S. West Coast during winter.
• Good agreement was found between PCBoom simulations and previous work on arrival locations.

Conclusions:

• Secondary sonic boom impact on U.S. coastlines exhibits distinct seasonal and geographical patterns.
• The findings provide a more complete understanding of supersonic travel's acoustic impact on communities.
• PCBoom software is a reliable tool for predicting secondary sonic boom behavior.