Human Response to Sonic Booms--Recent NASA Research

The proposed development of a second-generation supersonic commercial transport has resulted in renewed sonic boom research. Aircraft configurations are being designed to reduce the impact of sonic booms by generating sonic boom signatures which have specific shapes other than N-waves and which may be more acceptable to the public. In an effort to provide guidance to aircraft designers and to aid in the establishment of sonic boom impact criteria, a program to study human response to sonic booms was formulated. It consists of three components: (a) laboratory studies using a sonic boom simulator to assess response to individual sonic booms having a range of pressure-time signatures, (b) an in-house simulation system to investigate response to daily combinations of individual boom amplitudes and their frequency of occurrence, and (c) response to sonic booms in communities that are routinely exposed to supersonic aircraft operations.