{"id":661372,"date":"2026-03-17T05:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T05:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/661372\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T05:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T05:48:15","slug":"trailblazing-noise-study-on-vandenberg-rocket-launches-delivers-lessons-on-sonic-booms-local-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/661372\/","title":{"rendered":"Trailblazing Noise Study on Vandenberg Rocket Launches Delivers Lessons on Sonic Booms | Local News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A groundbreaking study on rocket-related noise linked to Vandenberg Space Force Base <\/a>launches has confirmed wind pattern, seasons, trajectory and other factors contribute to the level of sounds heard around the Central Coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re literally writing the physics behind this phenomenon,\u201d Col. James \u201cJim\u201d Horne, Space Launch Delta 30 commander said during the inaugural Mission Update speakers series in Lompoc Feb. 20.<\/p>\n

Horne will hold another Mission Update from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the County Planning Commission Hearing Room, 123 E. Anapamu St. in Santa Barbara. Additional Mission Updates are planned in Carpinteria and Ojai in the coming months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The noise study involves a partnership between Vandenberg along with Brigham Young University<\/a> and California State University, Bakersfield<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proximity of a rocket\u2019s trajectory or flight path along with when the liftoff occurs can contribute to what people hear.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we can launch the same trajectory in the summer and you won\u2019t even hear it,\u201d Horne sad. \u201cBut if we launch it in the winter or the spring, you might. You might, not necessarily will, but you might.. You\u2019re more likely to hear it during those times and that\u2019s because of the seasonal wind patterns pushing onshore versus offshore during the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

With sensors dotting areas located between northern Santa Barbara County and Oxnard, some 477 recordings have been collected as of February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re learning a lot. We\u2019re learning that our tools are not equipped very well for this phenomenon and now they are,\u201d Horne said. \u201cThat\u2019s giving us the opportunity and the information to design policy constraints\u00a0 and other operational constraints to minimize the noise impacts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\tA Falcon 9 rocket rises from its launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base en route to placing 25 Starlink satellites in orbit on Feb. 7. Credit: SpaceX photo<\/p>\n

Kent Gee, from the BYU Physics Department and lead researcher for the study, said they want to place more sensors to collect even more information as they learn about the four phases of launch noise.<\/p>\n

He has been surprised to see how variable the sonic booms are as they\u2019re heard and felt over a wide swath spanning from Santa Barbara to Oxnard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started I didn\u2019t understand exactly what they were experiencing. Now because of the modeling and the measurements we made we actually do understand what that is,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The area where the sound waves hit the ground is known as the focus, Gee said.<\/p>\n

For one launch studies showed the\u00a0 most intense sonic booms occurred between Santa Barbara and Carpinteria, Gee said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people will see a sonic boom, but it\u2019s less intense for them,\u201d Gee said. \u201cSo understanding where that focus occurs is one of our key challenges because that\u2019s the people who are most impacted for anything we launch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kent<\/p>\n

\t\tKent Gee from the Brigham Young University Physics Department and lead researcher into noise caused by rocket launches, speaks in Lompoc recently about sensors placed around Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo<\/p>\n

He has placed equipment including a black dome container affectionally known as COUGAR (BYU\u2019s mascot). COUGAR stands for Compact Outdoor Unit for Ground-based Acoustical Recordings that is a weather-proof container for collecting the data.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Gee is anxious for data as any scientist is so if you have folks that you know, or if you are interested, in being part of that\u00a0 study he will gladly put sound equipment in your backyard and add it to his modeling,\u201d Horne said during a recent State of Vandenberg event at the base<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

Anyone willing to have one of the sensors place on their property can contact Gee by sending an email to kentgee@byu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Col.<\/p>\n

\t\tCol. James \u201cJim\u201d Horne, Space Launch Delta 30 commander at Vandenberg Space Force Base, speaks to media after the State of Vandenberg presentation Thursday. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo<\/p>\n

Science of Sonic Booms\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gee has logged some 25 years studying military noise including aircraft, explosives and\u00a0 rockets, landing him in Lompoc frequently in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our most extensive work so far,\u201d Gee said of the Central Coast project. \u201cI would say Vandenberg has led the charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rocket launch noise has various phases with liftoff creating rumbles and crackles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it accelerates and pitches over and goes downrange you will generate an ascent sonic boom,\u201d Gee said. \u201cThat\u2019s one type of sonic boom that\u2019s generated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The booster\u2019s flyback to Vandenberg for landing creates what can be clapping sonic booms heard in Lompoc.<\/p>\n

Sonic booms are generated by super sonic vehicles traveling faster than the speed of sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA sonic boom is basically a wave,\u201d Gee said.<\/p>\n

So what is noise?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNoise is a sound that is unpleasant, disturbing, annoying, unwanted and it has different effects,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cnoise is a concern as a possible impact of any military related activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

All communities wrestle with determining an acceptable threshold for noise which can lead to a differences of opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysics is easy. Psychology is hard,\u201d Gee said.<\/p>\n

In addition to analyzing noise impacts on its human neighbors, another study is assessing how noise affects the various endangered species living at Vandenberg.<\/p>\n

Rockets launching from Vandenberg generate a significant amount of power at liftoff, Gee said. The energy generated by one liftoff amounts to the equivalent of hundreds\u00a0 Gee said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

One goal of efforts to learn about launch noise is to create tools possible leading to faster, better, more reliable environmental assessments to identify real impacts.<\/p>\n

As United Launch Alliance prepares to debut its Vulcan vehicle with a launch later this year on the former Atlas 5 facility, Gee said measurements show the new rocket produces the similar\u00a0noise as its predecessor. That\u2019s despite the fact Vulcan boasts substantially greater thrust at liftoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy? We don\u2019t know yet. But it does suggest that there may be in the future\u00a0 the possibility of influencing launch vehicle design for the purpose of noise reduction,\u201d Gee said.<\/p>\n

Following Tuesday\u2019s Mission Update presentation in Santa Barbara, others are planned from 4-6 p.m. April 22 at the Veterans Memorial Building, 941 Walnut Ave. in Carpinteria and 4-6 p.m. May 6 at the Kent Hall Council Chambers on the Ojai City Hall campus, 111 W. Santa Ana St. in Ojai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A groundbreaking study on rocket-related noise linked to Vandenberg Space Force Base launches has confirmed wind pattern, seasons,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":661373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[728,159,783,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-661372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-local-news","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-space","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116242947548440403","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}