Sonic boom propagation through turbulence: A ray theory approach

A ray theory approach is used to examine the propagation of sonic booms through a turbulent ground layer, and to make predictions about the received waveform. The rays are not propagated one at a time, as is typical in ray theory; instead, sufficient rays to represent a continuous wave front are propagated together. New rays are interpolated as needed to maintain the continuity of the wave front. In order to predict the received boom signature, the wave front is searched for eigenrays after it has propagated to the receiver. The Comte-Bellot turbulence model is used to generate an instantaneous 'snapshot' of the turbulent field. The transient acoustic wave is assumed to be sufficiently short in duration such that the time-dependacde of the turbulent field may be neglected.