Citation

Beck SD, Nakasone H, Marr KW. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2011; 130(4): 2519.

Affiliation

BAE Systems, 6500 Tracor Ln., MS 27-16, Austin, TX 78725, steve.beck@baesystems.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Institute of Physics)

DOI

10.1121/1.3655043

PMID

21974206

Abstract

Due to the proliferation of audio recording devices in the military, law enforcement, and the civilian community, there has been an increase in the number of recorded gunshot sounds submitted for forensic analysis. A gunshot sound is composed of one or more discrete acoustic transient events. The two primary acoustic events are the muzzle blast (bang) and the ballistic shockwave (crack). The acoustic event characteristics depend on their source generating mechanisms and vary according to the firearm make, model, barrel length, and the specific ammunition characteristics. Forensic gunshot analysis deals with a single recorded shot lasting for a fraction of a second. These acoustic events are usually high intensity, often up to 160 dB SPL, are highly directional, and are often recorded in high distortion environments. Forensic gunshot analysis must take into account variations in the source generation characteristics and the sources of distortion for these recorded acoustic events in order to answer these fundamental forensic questions: Is this event a gunshot? Are two events from the same firearm? Who fired first? To illustrate the complex nature of the analysis, we present the gunshot data collected in a pristine controlled environment and the data collected in a forensic environment.

Language: en