Prediction of aircraft sideline noise attenuation
A computational study is made using the recommended ground effect theory by Pao, Wenzel, and Oncley. It is shown that this theory adequately predicts the measured ground attenuation data by Parkin and Scholes, which is the only available large data set. It is also shown, however, that the ground effect theory does not predict the measured lateral attenuations from actual aircraft flyovers. There remain one or more important lateral effects on aircraft noise, such as sideline shielding of sources, which must be incorporated in the prediction methods. Experiments at low elevation angles (0 deg to 10 deg) and low-to-intermediate frequencies are recommended to further validate the ground effect theory.