Abstract

The irradiance fluctuations of beams which propagate through a turbulent medium can be used to infer the spatial spectrum of the turbulent scatterers. The propagation of Goubau-type beam waves in a random medium is used to show that amplitude fluctuations depend upon the transmitter aperture size, observation distance, and wavelength. Most of the results are presented in terms of a parameter, αL, which is inversely proportional to the Fresnel number, πW_0²/Lλ. A Monte Carlo numerical procedure is used to obtain the normalized mean-square log-amplitude fluctuation as a function of the inverse Fresnel number for various magnitudes of the turbulence inner scale. The applicability of these procedures to measured turbulence spectra is also discussed.

© 1969 Optical Society of America

Log-Amplitude Fluctuations of Laser Beam in a Turbulent Atmosphere

T. L. Ho
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 59(4) 385-390 (1969)

Diffraction theory of optical scintillations due to turbulent layers

Leonard S. Taylor and Charles J. Infosino
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 65(1) 78-84 (1975)

Saturation of Scintillation Magnitude in Near-Earth Optical Propagation*

Paul H. Deitz and Neal J. Wright
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 59(5) 527-535 (1969)

Propagation of Spherical Waves in Locally Homogeneous Random Media*

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J. Opt. Soc. Am. 59(3) 319-327 (1969)

Further Correlation Studies of Gaussian-Beam Fluctuations Caused by a Random Medium

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J. Opt. Soc. Am. 59(8) 913-920 (1969)