Investigating sonic booms using impulse metrics

As an impulsive sound, a sonic boom exhibits traits similar to other transient acoustic impulses, such as a single strike of a sledgehammer strike or an exploding firework. Although several metrics exist to assess the nature and potential acoustic hazards of these other impulsive sounds, these metrics are rarely applied to sonic booms. This paper investigates the use of several metrics commonly applied to impulsive sounds, such as B and D durations or the kurtosis of the pressure waveform, for sonic booms recorded during previous NASA flight test campaigns, including CarpetDIEM (Carpet Determination in Entirety Measurements) and QSF18 (Quiet Supersonic Flights 2018). Understanding the behavior of these metrics in urban (QSF18) and rural (CarpetDIEM) environments adds to the larger body of knowledge concerning sonic boom measurements and properties and may be useful in quantifying sonic boom variability in communities.