The temporal cross-correlation function of the angle-of-arrival (AOA) fluctuations of two optical waves propagating through atmospheric turbulence carries information regarding the average wind velocity transverse to the propagation path. We present and discuss two estimators for the retrieval of the path-averaged beam-transverse horizontal wind velocity, $v_t$. Both methods retrieve $v_t$ from the temporal cross-correlation function of AOA fluctuations obtained from two closely spaced light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The first method relies on the time delay of the peak (TDP) of the cross-correlation function, and the second method exploits its slope at zero lag (SZL). Over a 9 h period during which $v_t$ varied between $-1.3{\mathrm{ms}}^{-1}$ and $2.0{\mathrm{ms}}^{-1}$, the maximum rms difference between optically retrieved and in situ measured 10 s estimates of $v_t$ was found to be $0.18{\mathrm{ms}}^{-1}$ for the TDP estimator and $0.23{\mathrm{ms}}^{-1}$ for the SZL estimator. Applicability and limitations of these two optical wind retrieval techniques are discussed.

© 2012 Optical Society of America

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article level metrics are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

Related Journal Articles

• Irradiance-variance behavior by numerical simulation for plane-wave and spherical-wave optical propagation through strong turbulence (JOSAA)
• Turbulence spectrum effect on wave temporal-frequency spectra for light propagating through the atmosphere (JOSAA)
• Nondiffracting Narrow Light Beam with Small Atmospheric Turbulence-Influenced Propagation (AO)
• Simulation of Laser Propagation in a Turbulent Atmosphere (AO)
• Proposed form for the atmospheric turbulence spatial spectrum at large scales (JOSAA)

Related Conference Papers

• Aperture Averaging Experiment for Optimizing Receiver Design and Analyzing Turbulence on Free Space Optical Communication Links
• Refractive Index Gradient in the Turbulent Atmosphere
• Optimum Transmitter Radius for Ground-to-Satellite Laser Uplink Communication Systems in the Presence of Beam Wander Effect
• BER of Annular Beams in Strong Turbulence
• A Transportable Atmospheric Testing Suite