A method for predicting community annoyance due to exposure to sonic booms

A method to predict community annoyance due to sonic booms has been formulated in which the exposure is expressed using the equivalent day–night average sound level metric (Ldn). It is based on the paired comparison results of Kryter’s sonic boom flyover tests [K. D. Kryter, TheEffectsofNoiseonMan (Academic, New York, 1970)] and a synthesis of available community response data by Schultz for aircraft, highway, and railway noise sources [T. J. Schultz, ‘‘Synthesis of Social Surveys on Noise Annoyance,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 64, 377 (1978)]. The method incorporates average indoor–outdoor responses and includes the effects of sonic boom overpressures and frequency rates of exposure. Good agreement is shown between the predicted percentages of highly annoyed persons and the limited results from several community surveys involving aircraft supersonic overflights. [Work conducted in part by Douglas Aircraft Co. and Wyle Labs. under contract to NASA−Langley Research Center.]