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U.S. national research priorities include reducing the disruption caused by sonic booms, which hindered the economic viability of supersonic aircraft in decades past. However, shock waves are unavoidable during supersonic flight; and exposure of people, animals, and structures to these shock waves on the ground cannot be eliminated entirely. It is herein shown that changing atmospheric conditions, gusts, and heights above ground can result in any supersonic aircraft that is acceptably quiet at specific atmospheric conditions becoming uncomfortably loud in other flight conditions. These performance variations are noticeable for periods ranging from 12 h to one year across the continental United States of America. Therefore, strategies to actively mitigate sonic booms may become necessary as researchers work toward resumption of overland commercial supersonic flight.

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