The influence of non-standard atmospheric conditions on the potential number of acoustic signature occurrences in the continental United States.

Abstract

The potential number of supersonic flight operations and their resulting acoustic signature occurrences are important components for assessing the overall impact of supersonic flight over populated areas. Gulfstream Aerospace has recently published estimates for the number of acoustic signatures that would occur per day, on average, over the continental United States based on actual flight movements from large cabin business jets. The previous analysis of the flight movement data assumed propagation from a supersonic vehicle flying at a constant altitude and Mach number through a standard atmosphere and also assumed great circle routing between the origin and destination airports. The present work will examine the influence that realistic flight profiles and non-standard atmospheric conditions have on the location and extent of the acoustic signature occurrences. The non-standard atmospheric conditions will consist of seasonally averaged, upper-air profiles from nearly 100 locations across the continental United States. The realistic flight profiles will be based on estimates for the climb capability of the supersonic vehicle and possible air traffic routing trajectories.