Modeling regional propagation of infrasonic Mach cone energy from a supersonic source

Abstract

Supersonic sources such as bolides, aircraft, and rocket launches are known to produce a wide range of acoustic and infrasonic signals. The lower frequency infrasonic component of these signals can propagate large distances through the atmosphere due to the decreased thermo-viscous losses at low frequency and presence of temperature and wind induced infrasonic waveguides so that signals are often detected at regional distances of hundreds of kilometers. The dominant radiator of energy from such sources is the Mach cone signal that emanates from the source with very specific geometry. Ray tracing analysis using a Mach cone source model to predict infrasonic signals at regional distances will be presented and several parametric studies and comparisons with observed signals from several representative supersonic sources will be presented.