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NASA NTRS2019

Statistical Modeling of Quiet Sonic Boom Community Response Survey Data

The existing ban on commercial supersonic flight overland is largely due to the effects of loud and startling sonic booms on communities. NASA is planning a nationwide campaign of community response surveys using the experimental X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (X-59 QueSST) aircraft to understand how communities perceive the sounds of quiet supersonic flight. The X-59 community response survey data will be presented to noise regulators, who are considering replacing the ban with a noise-based certification limit so quiet supersonic vehicles can fly over land. In this document, we use pilot community response survey data to explore and assess multiple approaches to statistically model the dose-response relationship between single-event sonic boom sound exposure and human annoyance. The models have two primary functions—estimating two types of quantities that support setting regulations and experimental design of future surveys.

Jasme Lee↗
NASA NTRS2020

Recommendations for Using Noise Monitors to Estimate Noise Exposure During X-59 Community Tests

A low fidelity simulation approach is used to explore how to place and use noise monitors during X-59 QueSST community tests, where people’s annoyance to the noise produced by the X-59 aircraft will be gathered. Several recommendations are provided including: 1) the desired number of sparsely spaced noise monitor sites within the survey area, 2) whether to group and average measurements across multiple noise monitors located at a site, 3) what spacing should be used if grouped noise monitors are used, 4) an approach to mitigate ambient noise contamination at the measurement sites, 5) a method to combine empirical and predicted dose estimates to provide a single dose estimate for respondents, and 6) assessing how changes in turbulence intensity and array configuration affect dose uncertainty. To make these recommendations, the error that is expected when fitting contrived, smoothly varying sonic boom “reference exposure surfaces” is studied when a spatially sparse and scattered set of samples is used as responses for the fit. The reference exposure surfaces mimic the sonic boom exposure at ground level that might be expected in the X-59 survey area in the absence of atmospheric turbulence, ambient noise, and other localized effects. The spatial extent of these surfaces varies and is representative of the different survey area sizes that might be expected during future X-59 community overflight tests. These contrived reference surfaces are sampled, and those reference samples are then perturbed to mimic atmospheric turbulence, ambient noise and other localized effects that might affect noise monitor measurements within overflown communities. Two different surface fitting methods are investigated when fitting these perturbed samples to approximate the reference surface. The first method uses interpolation between the perturbed data at the scattered sites to compute the fit. The second method fits a polynomial surface model to the perturbed data using ordinary least squares regression analysis. For both fitting methods, the root mean square fit error is computed from the pointwise difference between the fit surface and the reference surface as the count and configuration of the sites is varied while also averaging the error across many different realizations of both the smooth variation of the reference exposure surface and the random, localized perturbations at the sample sites. Different site configurations are compared using this error statistic to make the recommendations noted above. Additionally, the two fitting approaches (interpolation vs linear regression) are compared based on the fit error observed in these simulations. These analyses, comparisons, and recommendations should inform future decisions on the noise monitor placement and the methods used to analyze the noise monitor data that is collected during X-59 community overflights.

sonic boom↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Estimating Sonic Boom Metrics Across a Community Using a Kalman Filter

As part of the Quesst mission, NASA will fly the X‑59 aircraft over selected communities to evaluate community responses to low-intensity sonic booms. The purpose of these community tests is to determine the dose-response relationship between the noise exposure metrics and the community response. The independent variables for the dose-response relationship are the noise exposure metrics experienced by survey respondents within the community. Two sources of noise exposure metrics are available in each community: measurements at sparse locations throughout the community, and calculations from propagation models across the community. Both the measurements and calculations are subject to uncertainty. A Kalman filter is proposed to combine the measured and calculated noise exposure metrics to obtain the best estimate of the true noise exposure metrics across the community. The noise exposure metrics estimated by the Kalman filter have lower uncertainty than either the measured or calculated noise exposure metrics alone. Simulations demonstrate that the Kalman filter produces a more accurate estimate of the true noise exposure metrics than other noise estimation methods.

Sonic boom↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Enabling Supersonic Over-Land Flight Using Computational Modeling

NASA's QueSST mission is interested in exploring the potential of commercial, over-land supersonic flight, which has been banned since 1973 due to the noise intensity of the sonic booms that supersonic vehicles create. NASA has partnered with Lockheed Martin to design and construct an experimental aircraft, the X-59, that will shape the sonic boom to achieve a perceived loudness on the ground that is lower than 75dB. In this talk, we present new developments in the Launch Ascent and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) CFD solver framework which are tailored to the analysis of supersonic vehicles, like the X-59, and sonic boom propagation. Utilizing a high-order space marching method, adjoint-based grid adaptation, and robust database capabilities have enabled significant cost savings over traditional CFD methods for the same level of accuracy in perceived boom loudness. Example cases demonstrating the toolset are presented, along with comparisons to experimental wind tunnel data. These developments will enable LAVA to quickly and accurately provide simulation data to the project during X-59's first and subsequent flights in 2024 and beyond.

CST↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Overview of Community Response Testing Campaign with NASA's X-59 Aircraft

Prohibition of civil supersonic flight over land became federal regulation in 1973, currently codified in 14 CFR Part 91.817. Of concern, the sonic booms that result when aircraft travel at supersonic speeds were deemed an untenable source of noise affecting populations directly under and near flight paths. Over the past fifty years, research in aircraft design and shaping has led to the prospect of low-noise supersonic flight. As part of its Quesst mission, NASA is building an experimental aircraft, the X-59, to demonstrate this capability. After completing flight test and design validation phases, NASA will field a national community testing campaign in order to collect data on how people perceive the sound from low-noise supersonic flight. The collected data will be provided to national and international regulators as they consider replacing the overland speed limit with a noise-based limit. This presentation provides an overview of the community test campaign, and identifies some of the key objectives, plans, and anticipated challenges.

X-59↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Turbulence Effects on Shaped Booms: Propagation Simulations Using KZKFourier

Upcoming X-59 aircraft flight tests as part of NASA’s Quesst Mission are expected to occur in a range of atmospheric conditions. Sensitivity of ground waveform acoustic metrics to turbulent perturbations during propagation complicates the determination of noise levels. A series of simulations through turbulence was executed using the KZKFourier model of Stout et al. to develop a database of results for expanding the functionality of NASA tools for estimating turbulence effects on shaped-boom ground waveforms. For 45 cases covering a seven-factor design space, multiple realizations of turbulence were generated to characterize statistical turbulence effects on levels of six acoustic metrics. An individual simulation in the study produced over one thousand waveforms across a virtual microphone array. Different measures were used to evaluate refinement of results with increasing number of simulations. Data suggest that mean effects and variability were most strongly influenced by propagation distance and velocity fluctuation intensity. Although local increases in acoustic metrics were common, the overall average result in all cases was a reduction in metric levels. Sensitivity of acoustic metrics varied, with mean reductions of up to 2 dB in Perceived Level occurring across the 45 cases.

turbulence↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Turbulence Effects on Shaped Booms: Finite Impulse Response Filter Development

Numerical simulations of propagation through turbulent atmospheres can quantify effects on ground waveforms, but such simulations are computationally expensive. To enable quick turnaround analyses as required by NASA’s Quesst Mission, updating the N-wave filtering approach developed by researchers at The Pennsylvania State University to include shaped booms is proposed as an alternative method for estimating turbulence effects on acoustic metrics more quickly. Beginning with a nearfield pressure cylinder modeled after the on-design X-59 configuration, a database of propagation results at 45 turbulence conditions was compiled using nonlinear turbulence propagation modeling code (KZKFourier) and used as input to a process for generating finite impulse response (FIR) filters. Ground waveforms distorted by turbulence were selected to represent mean and mean±standard deviation levels for six metrics, and corresponding FIR filters were generated through a matrix deconvolution process. In order to evaluate how well the FIR filters perform, additional KZKFourier verification cases were devised with different input conditions, and results used as a benchmark. Convolution of shaped boom waveforms modeled using nonturbulent propagation simulations with the new FIR filters showed better agreement on average with KZKFourier statistical results than the N-wave-based FIR filters.

turbulence↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Schlieren Methods for Supersonic Aircraft in Flight

We describe the three methods to be deployed on the X-59 QueSST aircraft and their development. The three methods are Background Oriented Schlieren with Celectial Obhects, Airborne Background Oriented Schlieren, and Sun-edge distortion Schlieren

Schlieren↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Modeling Measurement Error in Dose-Response Models of Community Annoyance to Low-Noise Supersonic Flight

The primary research goal of the forthcoming NASA Quesst mission community test campaign is to collect representative community response data in support of the development of supersonic overflight noise certification standards. Beginning in 2026, NASA will fly the novel X-59 demonstrator aircraft over select communities in United States in order to demonstrate the possibility of low-noise supersonic flight over land and to collect objective measurements and subjective data on the perceptual experience of this new noise source. It is believed that a regression of a binary perceptual response (‘highly annoyed’ or ‘not’) on estimated noise levels (doses, measured in decibels) will provide a useful dose-response relationship for regulators. However, as these estimated doses will be subject to measurement error, naïve estimators of regression coefficients are inconsistent and slopes may be subject to attenuation bias. In this presentation, I contrast functional modeling of measurement error via simulation extrapolation (SIMEX) with structural Bayesian measurement error models. These methods are applied to available data collected during two NASA risk reduction studies in California in 2011 and Texas in 2018. I’ll conclude noting that in the presence of nonnegligible measurement errors, probabilities of annoyance may be overpredicted for low noise levels and underpredicted for high noise levels, therefore, methods of correcting for measurement error will be necessary to improve the utility of the dose-response relationship for policy-making purposes.

simulation↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Influence of Atmospheric Variability on Predicted Sonic Boom Metrics

As part of the Quesst mission, NASA will fly the X-59 aircraft over selected communities to survey community responses to low sonic booms. Previously, we developed a Kalman filter method to estimate the loudness metrics experienced by each survey participant during each flight. The Kalman filter fuses acoustic measurements with predictions from PCBoom, a sonic boom propagation model. PCBoom requires vertical profiles of the temperature, humidity, and wind to propagate sonic booms through the atmosphere and predict the loudness metrics at the ground. Prior to each X-59 flight, NASA will launch weather balloons to measure the vertical atmospheric profile. However, the atmosphere changes continually with geographic location and time. The purpose of this work is to determine where and when to launch these weather balloons to minimize the uncertainty in the predicted loudness metrics caused by atmospheric variability. We analyzed the effect of atmospheric variability on the predicted Perceived Level in three communities in different climate zones in the United States. To achieve acceptable uncertainty in the Perceived Level, weather balloons should be launched from at least two different sites within the survey area within one hour of each X-59 flight.

sonic boom↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Uncertainty Quantification Methodology for Sonic Boom Loudness of a Low-Boom Supersonic Concept

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of uncertainty quantification for sonic boom loudness metrics associated with the X-59 aircraft during its acoustic validation phase. The study focuses on employing advanced methodologies to characterize uncertainties in key sonic boom parameters predicted from a database derived from a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. These methodologies include creating a polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) surrogate model, which is then used to run a Monte Carlo analysis to obtain 95% uncertainty intervals for sonic boom loudness parameters across the full carpet. Atmospheric uncertainties are rigorously considered, leveraging weather models based on historical data near Edwards Air Force Base to simulate potential flight conditions. The findings include preliminary uncertainty results for the full carpet during the validation phase of the Quesst mission. Additionally, a sensitivity study reveals that the primary sources of uncertainty are humidity and cruise weight.

Laura M. White↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Using Importance Sampling Monte Carlo to Analyze Aircraft Takeoff and Landing

Aircraft have achieved high levels of reliability, so the probability of undesirable dynamics is very low. The low probability of a bad takeoff or landing challenges nondeterministic methods to quantify the uncertainty of these improbable events. In the present work, a Monte Carlo method is defined to more effectively quantify these unlikely events that is suitable for uncertainty analysis of a mature design with many uncertainty parameters. The proposed Monte Carlo method has been applied to the takeoff and landing of the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST). Takeoff and landing simulation profiles were defined using a combination of industry standards and piloted simulation experience. The proposed method is shown to be able to quantify events with significantly fewer samples than would be required with conventional Monte Carlo. These results improve understanding of the sensitivity of the takeoff and landing dynamics to inform further studies and test planning.

Jeffrey Ouellette↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Using Importance Sampling Monte Carlo to Analyze Aircraft Takeoff and Landing

Aircraft have achieved high levels of reliability, so the probability of undesirable dynamics is very low. The low probability of a bad takeoff or landing challenges nondeterministic methods to quantify the uncertainty of these improbable events. In the present work, a Monte Carlo method is defined to more effectively quantify these unlikely events that is suitable for uncertainty analysis of a mature design with many uncertainty parameters. The proposed Monte Carlo method has been applied to the takeoff and landing of the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST). Takeoff and landing simulation profiles were defined using a combination of industry standards and piloted simulation experience. The proposed method is shown to be able to quantify events with significantly fewer samples than would be required with conventional Monte Carlo. These results improve understanding of the sensitivity of the takeoff and landing dynamics to inform further studies and test planning.

Jeffrey Ouellette↗
NASA NTRS2023

Multiple Scattering Theory for Modeling Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence

Sonic booms are often modeled using Burgers equations accounting for dominant propagation effects. Scattering effects of turbulence, however, have not been incorporated into such equations, although these effects are ubiquitous in measured sonic booms. This paper formulates the mean scattering effects, including backscattering, using multiple scattering theory and ensemble averaging. It obtains an acousto-turbulence interaction energy representing the interaction of an acoustic wave field with a turbulence field. The interaction energy gives rise to a scattering wavenumber, a complex-valued correction to the free-space wavenumber. The scattering wavenumber leads to a dispersion and attenuation of the mean waveform due to backscattering, and can be obtained from a derived exact solution. An existing Burgers equation is extended to include the scattering effects of turbulence as an additional linear term. Numerical simulations of an N-wave and a low boom show that the mean scattering effects lead to shock thickening in the mean waveforms as well as reduce the peak amplitudes and total energy contents. The energy reduction is less severe in the low boom than in the N-wave and is dependent on the variance, correlation length, and thickness of the turbulence field.

sonic booms↗
NASA NTRS2022

High Speed Inlet Distortion Test for the X 59 Low Boom Flight Demonstrator in the NASA Glenn 8-by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel

The Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) High Speed Inlet Distortion Test (HSIDT) was completed in the NASA Glenn Research Center 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel (8x6 SWT) using a 9.5 percent-scale propulsion model of the X–59 to evaluate the compatibility and operability of the inlet and engine integration, focusing on the inlet dynamic effects at the engine face. The model was instrumented with steady-state and high-response total pressure probes in the conventional 40-point, equal-area array at the aerodynamic interface plane (AIP). The HSIDT successfully collected high response distortion data points for the X–59 from Mach = 0 to 1.55 for a wide range of angle-of-attack, angle-of-sideslip, and inlet flow. Analyses showed that inlet dynamic distortion and inlet planar wave (or inlet buzz) were within engine limits through most of the flight envelope. The test data showed that inlet planar wave was present at Mach 1.35 and above, at airflows between idle and maximum engine airflow. Engine throttle back will need to be limited when decelerating from supersonic flight Mach to avoid these regions of inlet planar wave. The HSIDT data was also used to compare the metric SUM40, computed from the 40 high-response AIP total pressure probes, with the metric SUM4, computed from four high-response inlet static pressure probes. The data showed that SUM4 can be used as a surrogate for SUM40 during the X–59 flight test to detect inlet planar wave.

X-59↗