PSU Noisequest

Spotlight Archive

Waveforms and Sonic Boom Perception and Response (WSPR)

The Waveforms and Sonic boom Perception and Response, or WSPR, project, gathered data from a select group of volunteer Edwards Air Force Base residents on their individual attitudes toward sonic booms produced by NASA F-18 aircraft in supersonic flight over Edwards. The NASA flights were flown with a maneuver that resulted in lower level boom noise than is typical of traditional supersonic flight. WSPR's purpose is to develop data collection methods and test protocols for future public perception studies in communities that do not usually experience sonic booms. This NASA sponsored effort is one of a series of projects that are being supported by both NASA and FAA on the perception of low boom noise from supersonic flight and its impact on communities.

Dryden's partners in the WSPR effort include NASA's Langley Research Center, Wyle Laboratories, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Pennsylvania State University, Tetra Tech and Fidell Associates Inc.. The cooperation of Edwards Air Force Base personnel was crucial to the study's success.

Learn more about WSPR:

Videos

The NQ Team has added videos to sections of the NoiseQuest site. These videos will help users visualize some of the ideas dicussed on our site. They include:

To help users understand the role of air traffic control this video takes a quick look at Air Traffic Control Operations, as presented in this FAA Air Traffic Control Video.
To see how many flights there are in a typical day, view A Day in the Life of Air Traffic Over the US, a NASA Video.
What does this same thing look like around the world? Watch this video showing global air traffic from the Zurich School of Applied Sciences.
To get an overview of the potential next generation of flight, consider this NexGen Video.
To learn more about noise basics see this NASA Video.
For some basics on the psychological effects of noise, watch this NASA Video.
The functions of the ear are the topic of this video.
To understand more about Optimized Profile Descent, see this video.
To learn more about aerodynamic forces and aircraft design take a look at this NASA Video.
To learn about flow visualization, air pressure and drag look at this NASA Video.