This paper provides an overview of sonic boom noise for nonspecialists. A brief description is provided and a source/path/receiver model is emphasized. Significant research has been undertaken in the last few years to develop commercial aircraft (sources) that have sonic booms that are less loud than previous designs, opening the possibility for overland supersonic flight. This work is continuing. However, there are several challenges remaining regarding the propagation (path) of sonic boom noise through the real atmosphere and in the human perception (receiver) of minimized sonic boom waveforms.
Sonic Boom Carpet Computation as a Basis for Supersonic Flight Routing