Comparison of measured and predicted lateral distribution of sonic boom overpressures from the United States Air Force sonic boom database

In 1987 the United States Air Force (USAF) collected the lateral distribution of sonic booms produced by 43 supersonic flights of military aircraft near Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB). These flights were accomplished using eight different aircraft at several Mach number and altitude combinations. The flights were planned for steady and level operation, but unsteadiness and maneuvering in some of the flight profiles caused variability and focusing of the propagated booms along the lateral measurement array. The full sonic boom waveforms collected during this study are included in a digital database, BoomFile, which is accessible to researchers. The database also includes the aircraft tracking and local weather profiles. A comparison of the measured to predicted peak overpressures along the lateral spread of the boom carpet demonstrates the results from this study agree as expected with previous sonic boom studies. The measurements are compared with predictions calculated by Carlson’s simplified sonic boom model and a sonic boom ray tracing model. The analysis demonstrates that, in general, the predictions are in good agreement with the measured data, but the models overestimate the overpressures as the lateral cutoff is approached. Moreover, the comparison reveals that Carlson’s method is a robust tool for predicting sonic booms produced by nonmaneuvering flights.