Meteorological effects on long-range nonlinear propagation of jet noise from a static, high-performance military aircraft

The impact of nonlinearity on the propagation of noise from military jet aircraft has been fairly well documented, but only within a few hundred meters from the aircraft. This paper describes analysis of nonlinear propagation for morning static runups of F-35 aircraft at greater distances, out to 1220 m near the direction of maximum radiation and at heights ranging from 0 m up to 30.5 m. A comparison of overall levels with distance and height reveals evidence of significant atmospheric refraction effects, and a general trend of decreasing level with height. Examination of nonlinearity metrics reveals opposite behavior, however. At these distances, nonlinear propagation effects are often strongest in waveforms with lower sound levels, which is counterintuitive. One important finding, however, is that acoustic shock strength can vary greatly from runup to runup, even for seemingly small changes in atmospheric conditions. This analysis demonstrates the need for further research into long-range nonlinear prop...