Preliminary analysis of the PCBoom software for calculating secondary sonic booms

Abstract

Secondary sonic booms, also known as over-the-top sonic booms, are created during every supersonic aircraft flight, but they only reach the ground some of the time depending on atmospheric conditions. They represent the booms that either initially travel upward from the aircraft and refract to the ground or booms that initially travel downwards, reflect from the ground, and then travel upward and back down again to the ground a second time. Historically secondary booms have not been given as much widespread attention as the primary boom which is loudest, but secondary booms limited Concorde’s operations near the coast lines and could be important for planned future supersonic aircraft. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of an ongoing study to assess the current capabilities of calculating secondary sonic booms using the PCBoom software. Preliminary results will be presented. [Work supported by the FAA. The opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASCENT FAA Center of Excellence sponsor organizations.]