Researchers at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center recently captured imagery of supersonic shockwaves streaming from two research aircraft using a newly developed high-tech schlieren imaging system.
The Ground-to-Air Schlieren Photography System, developed by MetroLaser, Inc., under a Small Business Innovation Research contract, employed telescopes, digital cameras and specialized image-processing software to record imagery of airflow density, in this case the density of the shockwaves, as F-15 and F/A-18 aircraft passed between the cameras and the sun. By providing a clearer understanding of the location and relative strength of supersonic shockwaves, schlieren imaging represents another tool in the growing toolbox of techniques used by NASA researchers designed to characterize sonic booms.
Source: NASA