Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Reflection of Waves

Reflection of Waves

When a wave travels from one medium to another, it gets reflected at the boundary of the second medium. A common example of this is when a person yells at a distance from a cliff and hears the echo of their voice. The sound waves (longitudinal waves) traveling in the air are reflected from the bounding cliff. Similarly, flipping one end of a string whose other end is tied to a wall causes a pulse (transverse wave) to travel through the string, which gets reflected upon reaching the wall. In...

Shock Waves

Shock Waves

While deriving the Doppler formula for the observed frequency of a sound wave, it is assumed that the speed of sound in the medium is greater than the source's speed through it. When this condition is breached, a shock wave occurs.
When the source's speed approaches the speed of sound, constructive interference between successive wavefronts emitted by the source occurs immediately behind it. Initially, scientists believed that this constructive interference would result in such high...

Sound Waves: Interference

Sound Waves: Interference

Sound waves can be modeled either as longitudinal waves, wherein the molecules of the medium oscillate around an equilibrium position, or as pressure waves. When two identical waves from the same source superimpose on each other, the combination of two crests or two troughs results in amplitude reinforcement known as constructive interference. If two identical waves, that are initially in phase, become out of phase because of different path lengths, the combination of crests with troughs...

Echo

Echo

The human ear cannot distinguish between two sources of sound if they happen to reach within a specific time interval, typically 0.1 seconds apart. More than this, and they are perceived as separate sources.
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case,...

Sound Waves: Resonance

Sound Waves: Resonance

Resonance is produced depending on the boundary conditions imposed on a wave. Resonance can be produced in a string under tension with symmetrical boundary conditions (i.e., has a node at each end). A node is defined as a fixed point where the string does not move. The symmetrical boundary conditions result in some frequencies resonating and producing standing waves, while other frequencies interfere destructively. Sound waves can resonate in a hollow tube, and the frequencies of the sound...

Doppler Effect - II

Doppler Effect - II

The Doppler effect has several practical, real-world applications. For instance, meteorologists use Doppler radars to interpret weather events based on the Doppler effect. Typically, a transmitter emits radio waves at a specific frequency toward the sky from a weather station. The radio waves bounce off the clouds and precipitation and travel back to the weather station. The radio frequency of the waves reflected back to the station appears to decrease if the clouds or precipitation are moving...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Probing radiation forces acting on acoustic bubbles using digital in-line holography.

Ultrasonics sonochemistry·2026

Same author

Wake-induced variations in noise levels and amplitude modulation for two interacting wind turbines.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2026

Same author

Injection of acoustic waves via volumetric sources on a control surface for computational aeroacoustics.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2026

Same author

Impact of leakage on sound properties of 3D printed samples at normal and grazing incidence.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2025

Same author

Discussion of sound propagation through the turbulent Martian atmosphere and implications for inference of turbulence spectra.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2024

Same author

Self-Mixing Interferometer for Acoustic Measurements through Vibrometric Calibration.

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 15, 2025

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street

Published on: January 20, 2023

Sonic boom reflection over urban areas.

Didier Dragna¹, Ariane Emmanuelli¹, Sébastien Ollivier¹

¹Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique, Université de Lyon, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, INSA Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, CNRS, UMR 5509, 36 Avenue Guy de Collongue, F-69134, Ecully, France.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

|December 31, 2022

Summary

Sonic boom propagation in urban areas shows variable noise levels depending on city geometry. While median noise levels are similar to flat ground, canyon resonance causes significant low-frequency oscillations.

More Related Videos

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Published on: July 26, 2016

Measuring the Behavioral Effects of Intraocular Scatter

Measuring the Behavioral Effects of Intraocular Scatter

Published on: February 18, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 15, 2025

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street

Evaluating the Effect of Roadside Parking on a Dual-Direction Urban Street

Published on: January 20, 2023

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Published on: July 26, 2016

Measuring the Behavioral Effects of Intraocular Scatter

Measuring the Behavioral Effects of Intraocular Scatter

Published on: February 18, 2021

Area of Science:

Acoustics
Urban Meteorology
Computational Fluid Dynamics

Background:

Sonic boom propagation is complex, especially in urban environments.
Urban geometry significantly influences acoustic wave propagation.
Understanding these effects is crucial for noise mitigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate sonic boom propagation over various urban geometries.
To analyze the impact of urban canyon aspect ratio on boom characteristics.
To assess noise levels and resonant phenomena in urban soundscapes.

Main Methods:

Numerical simulations using Euler equations.
Modeling of classical N-wave and low-boom waves.
Analysis of ten urban geometries based on local climate zones.

Main Results:

Noise levels and peak pressure vary significantly in compact urban canyons (large aspect ratio).
Open urban canyons (small aspect ratio) show propagation similar to isolated buildings.
Median perceived noise levels are close to flat ground values, with greater variation in open geometries.
Low-frequency oscillations due to canyon resonance are observed in all geometries.

Conclusions:

Urban geometry critically affects sonic boom characteristics and variability.
Canyon resonance introduces significant low-frequency acoustic components.
Further research into urban acoustic environments is warranted.