The limitations and advantages of the shock spectrum and the Fourier spectrum for quantifying shock environments, product response and test specifications are summarized, implying that improved results may be obtained by combining the advantages of the shock spectrum and the Fourier spectrum. Whereas the shock spectrum is most suitable for product response (fragility) specification, the tools developed in this article render the Fourier spectrum most suitable for shock environment and laboratory test specification. Characteristic parameters of the Fourier spectrum modulus are used, to establish a one-to-one correspondence between the time and frequency domain representation of some standard shock pulses commonly used in shock testing. These may be broken down into two categories: namely, (a) half cycle pulses-halfsine, rectangular, triangular, ramp, wedge and trapezoid, wherein the characterizing parameters in the frequency domain are the zero frequency component (velocity change), the equation of the high frequency spectrom roll-off line, and the area below the spectrum curve; (b) multiple cycle pulses, e.g., exponentially decaying sine pulses, wherein the characterizing parameters are the velocity change, the maximal value of the spectrum and its associated frequency. These pulse characterizing parameters are used in lieu of the phase information, as required in the regular inverse Fourier transform process. The line taken is similarly applicable for characterizing other types of half cycle or multiple cycle shock pulses. The main advantage of this approach is the ability to compile representative service environment Fourier spectra by either averaging or enveloping techniques, with one or more of the standard test pulses chosen to simulate closely the environmental excitation. To this end, a technique for sampling and extracting individual pulses buried in a relatively low level steady state signal was developed, in which the FFT algorithm is used to derive the Fourier spectrum modulus of each sampled pulse. Practical applications are demonstrated by two case studies, specifying shock tests for simulating a maxi-max envelope of transients, as recorded in a typical produce handling and transportation environment. In the first case, two half cycle pulses are specified, for implementation on a shock machine. In the second case, a decaying sine test is specified, for implementation by a vibration machine, or drop test onto a linear cushion. The line taken is similarly applicable for simulation of any type of transient acceleration environment. The shock spectrum based damage boundary curve specifies the response of a specimen (fragility), to a given shock pulse, in terms of its velocity change, mean acceleration, pulse duration and shape. If a damage boundary of the product is prepared, one can readily compare its parameters to those of the maxi-max or average pulses, representing different service environments.