A model experiment to study sonic boom propagation through turbulence. Part III: validation of sonic boom propagation models.

In previous papers, we have shown that model experiments are successful in simulating the propagation of sonic booms through the atmospheric turbulent boundary layer. The results from the model experiment, pressure wave forms of spark-produced N waves and turbulence characteristics of the plane jet, are used to test various sonic boom models for propagation through turbulence. Both wave form distortion models and rise time prediction models are tested. Pierce's model [A. D. Pierce, "Statistical theory of atmospheric turbulence effects on sonic boom rise times," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 49, 906-924 (1971)] based on the wave front folding mechanism at a caustic yields an accurate prediction for the rise time of the mean wave form after propagation through the turbulence.