Effects of sonic boom on people - St. Louis, Missouri, 1961-1962.
Sonic boom effect on people, noting ground overpressure measurement and data obtained from interviews, formal complaints, building damage, etc
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Sonic boom effect on people, noting ground overpressure measurement and data obtained from interviews, formal complaints, building damage, etc
The sampling plan involved the selection of the study area, determination of the flightline and segment sample design within the study area, and determination of a field sample design. Initial interview survey data consisting of crop species acreage and land use were collected. On all corn fields, additional information such as seed type, row direction, population, planting date, ect. were also collected. From this information, sample corn fields were selected to be observed through the growing season on a biweekly basis by county extension personnel.
The results are presented of a study of community reaction to jet aircraft noise in the vicinity of airports in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Reno, Nevada. These cities were surveyed in order to obtain data for comparison with that obtained in larger cities during a previous study. (The cities studied earlier were Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.) The purpose of the present effort was to observe the relative reaction under conditions of lower noise exposure and in less highly urbanized areas, and to test the previously developed predictive equation for annoyance under such circumstances. In Chattanooga and Reno a total of 1960 personal interviews based upon questionnaires were obtained. Aircraft noise measurements were made concurrently and aircraft operations logs were maintained for several weeks in each city to permit computation of noise exposures. The survey respondents were chosen randomly from various exposure zones.
The study to develop, implement, and maintain a space law library and information system is summarized. The survey plan; major interviews with individuals representative of potential sources, users and producers of information related to aerospace law; and system trade-off analyses are discussed along with the NASA/RECON system capability. The NASA publications of STAR and IAA are described, and the NASA legal micro-thesaurus is included.
The means of employee communication at the NASA Langley Research Center are reported, and their effectiveness evaluated. The history, purpose, and structure of the organization as well as the employee educational background and salary status are discussed. Some of the approaches used by Langley Research Center management in communicating with their men are addressed and compared with recommendations of experts in employee communication. The results of personal interviews involving both employee and management assessment of management-employee communication are presented and evaluated. Employees need a great deal more recommunication from management providing rationale behind the cancellation of existing projects or the disapproval of proposed research projects. Also NASA management needs to establish a policy and guidelines for the rapid and simultaneous dissemination of all non-restricted information to employees during organizational activities having potential adverse effects on large numbers of personnel. Finally some improvements should be made in employee orientation procedures.
Human factors research programs which would support civil aviation and be suitable for accomplishment by NASA research centers are identified. Aviation problems formed the basis for the research program recommendations and, accordingly, problems were identified, ranked and briefly defined in an informal report to the project monitor and other cognizant NASA personnel. The sources for this problem foundation were literature reviews and extensive interviews with NASA and non-NASA personnel. An overview of these findings is presented.
The available techniques were examined in the field of remote sensing (including aerial photography, infrared detection, radar, etc.) and applications to a number of problems in the wide field of public health determined. The specific areas of public health examined included: air pollution, water pollution, communicable disease, and the combined problems of urban growth and the effect of disasters on human communities. The assessment of the possible applications of remote sensing to these problems was made primarily by examination of the available literature in each field, and by interviews with health authorities, physicists, biologists, and other interested workers. Three types of programs employing remote sensors were outlined in the air pollution field: (1) proving ability of sensors to monitor pollutants at three levels of interest - point source, ambient levels in cities, and global patterns; (2) detection of effects of pollutants on the environment at local and global levels; and (3) routine monitoring.
Gross measures of community annoyance with intrusive noises have been made in a number of real environment surveys which indicate that aircraft noise may have to be reduced 30-40 EPNdb before it will generally be considered acceptable. Interview studies, however, cannot provide the precise information which is needed by noise abatement engineers of the variable human response to different types and degrees of noise exposure. A new methodological field-survey approach has been developed to provide such information. The integrated attitudes and experiences of a random sample of subjects in the real environment are obtained by a prior field survey. Then these subjects record their more precise responses to controlled noise exposures in a new realistic laboratory. The laboratory is a sound chamber furnished as a typical living room (18 ft x 14 ft) and subjects watch a color TV program while they judge simulated aircraft flyovers that occur at controlled levels and intervals. Methodological experiments indicate that subjects in the laboratory have the sensation that the airplanes are actually moving overhead across the ceiling of the chamber. It was also determined that annoyance judgments in the laboratory stabilize after three flyovers are heard prior to a judgment of annoyance.
Various approaches which could be taken in developing a metric-system design for the Large Space Telescope, considering potential penalties on development cost and time, commonality with other satellite programs, and contribution to national goals for conversion to the metric system of units were investigated. Information on the problems, potential approaches, and impacts of metrication was collected from published reports on previous aerospace-industry metrication-impact studies and through numerous telephone interviews. The recommended approach to LST metrication formulated in this study cells for new components and subsystems to be designed in metric-module dimensions, but U.S. customary practice is allowed where U.S. metric standards and metric components are not available or would be unsuitable. Electrical/electronic-system design, which is presently largely metric, is considered exempt from futher metrication. An important guideline is that metric design and fabrication should in no way compromise the effectiveness of the LST equipment.
The Four Cities Program has completed the first year of the planned two-year program. At the beginning of the first year, a variety of program initiation activities were accomplished. Contracts were negotiated; science and technology advisors were interviewed, selected and assigned; general indoctrination and integration of the advisors into city affairs occurred; technical needs were identified and related projects pursued; pilot projects for the second year were identified; inter-city coordination on technical problems began to emerge; and the general soundness of the four cities program seems to have been established. Above all, the inter-personal relationships between the advisors and their interfaces in city government appear to be functioning smoothly. The establishment of such mutual respect, trusts, and confidences are believed essential to the success of the program.
After introducing some of the general factors that have affected progress in the area of communication, NASA program elements are examined to illustrate relevant points of contact. Interpretive steps are taken throughout the report to show a few of the more important ways people's lives have been affected as a result of the work of NASA and other organizations functioning in this area. The principal documents used and interviews conducted are identified.
After introducing some of the general factors that have affected progress in the area of environmental quality, NASA program elements are examined to illustrate relevant points of contact. Interpretive steps are taken throughout the report to show a few of the more important ways people's lives have been affected as a result of the work of NASA and other organizations functioning in this area. The principal documents used and interviews conducted are identified.
After introducing some of the general factors that have affected progress in the transportation area, NASA program elements are examined to illustrate relevant points of contact. Interpretive steps are taken throughout the statement to show a few of the more important ways people's lives have been affected as a result of the work of NASA and other organizations functioning in this area. The principal documents used and interviews conducted are identified after the conclusion of this statement. This statement, it should be noted, is incomplete in many respects, primarily because it reflects only a small number of the technical, economic, and social forces affecting American life. Taken as a summary statement, however, it hopefully will provide a useful basis for better understanding NASA's role in the national attempt to upgrade the quality of transportation services.
ERTS-1 imagery is being used by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to develop information products that will assist the state in optimally managing its coastal resources and in allocating funds. Interviews with NJDEP personnel have identified significant problem areas in the coastal zone, and the types of remote sensor derived information products that can be used in real-time decision making. Initial analyses of imagery from several successive ERTS-1 orbits have shown the extent, predominant drift, and dispersion characteristics of waste disposal in coastal New Jersey waters. Imagery (MSS Bands 4 and 5) for several orbits, shows that New-York Harbor tidal discharge extending as far south as Long Branch, New Jersey.
The author has identified the following significant results. This project is currently involved in making visits to state and county agencies to obtain their reactions and opinions to the Mississippi Gulf Coast ERTS-1 data. The data products being used in these interviews are produced by NASA/MTF-ERL and consist of computer plotted maps with eight classifications and a statistical summary in booklet form. Reaction by potential users has been very favorable, but cost will be the largely determining factor in their ability to utilize ERTS-1 data in a recurring manner.
A series of subjective response laboratory tests were conducted to determine the effectiveness of reducing aircraft noise by treating the aircraft engine nacelles with acoustically absorbent material. A total of 108 subjects participated in the magnitude estimation tests. The subjects were selected from persons who had previously been interviewed and classified according to selected psychological characteristics. The subjects lived in three general areas located at three specified distances from New York's Kennedy Airport. The aircraft signals used in the tests consisted of tape recordings of the landing approach noise of a B-727 aircraft under normal operating conditions. These recordings were electronically altered to simulate an aircraft with acoustically treated nacelles to achieve noise reductions of approximately 6 EPNdB and 12 EPNdB. The results from these tests indicate that significant reductions in annoyance resulted from the synthesized nacelle treatments.
Research activities conducted under the Program for Transfer Research and Impact Studies (TRIS) during 1972 included: (1) preparation of 10,196 TSP requests for TRIS application analysis; (2) interviews with over 500 individuals concerning the technical, economic, and social impacts of NASA-generated technology; (3) preparation of 38 new technology transfer example files and 101 new transfer cases; and (4) maintenance of a technology transfer library containing more than 2,900 titles. Six different modes of technology utilization are used to illustrate the pervasiveness of the transfer and diffusion of aerospace innovations. These modes also provide a basis for distinguishing the unique characteristics of the NASA Technology Utilization Program. An examination is reported of the ways in which NASA-generated technology is contributing to beneficial social change in five major areas of human concern: health, environment, safety, transportation, and communication.
The value was studied of improved weather information and weather forecasting to farmers, growers, and agricultural processing industries in the United States. The study was undertaken to identify the production and processing operations that could be improved with accurate and timely information on changing weather patterns. Estimates were then made of the potential savings that could be realized with accurate information about the prevailing weather and short term forecasts for up to 12 hours. This weather information has been termed nowcasting. The growing, marketing, and processing operations of the twenty most valuable crops in the United States were studied to determine those operations that are sensitive to short-term weather forecasting. Agricultural extension specialists, research scientists, growers, and representatives of processing industries were consulted and interviewed. The value of the crops included in this survey and their production levels are given. The total value for crops surveyed exceeds 24 billion dollars and represents more than 92 percent of total U.S. crop value.