Impact of low sonic boom exposure on psychophysical and cognitive performance

Abstract

The RUMBLE project aimed to quantify the effects of low sonic boom exposure on human responses, in situations representative of the daily life of European citizens, so as to inform policy, establish standards and develop protection concepts for a new generation of supersonic commercial aircraft that should emit a reduced but perceivable boom (a “low boom”) while flying overland. Two low boom simulators were affixed to the bedrooms’ windows of a house located on our university campus. The simulators allowed us to study indoor the participants’ responses to realistic “outdoor” booms. Testing took place in both the living room and kitchen because the booms caused different intensities of rattle noise in those two rooms. Participants performed a communication task, a working memory task, a drawing task, and an automatic evaluation task. They also had three mandatory rests. We used questionnaires to assess the booms’ perception and annoyance as well as their influence on participants’ mood. The booms were rated unpleasant, especially with rattle, and more disturbing during the rests than during the tasks. The booms made the rests less relaxing and impaired short-term cognitive performance. [This research was conducted as a part of Rumble—EU Grant Agreement 769896.]