Abstract

An experiment has been performed to confirm the proportionality between log-amplitude variance and the 7/6 power of wavenumber predicted by Tatarski for horizontal propagation from a spherical-wave transmitter to a point detector. The validity of this proportionality was tested for two wavelengths: 0.632 and 10.6 μ. Beams from a helium-neon and a CO₂ laser were simultaneously transmitted over a folded 1.2-km horizontal path and were detected with a photomultiplier and a gold-doped germanium detector. The primary scintillation statistic, log-amplitude variance, was evaluated for each wavelength with a digital computer and the ratio of variances at 0.632 and 10.6 μ was found to be in close agreement with predictions. Power spectral density, autocorrelation, and cumulative probability density were also evaluated for each wavelength. Scintillation statistics at 10.6 μ were found to be log normal, as in the visible.

© 1969 Optical Society of America

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)

Airborne laser-beam scintillation measurements at high altitudes*

Glen J. Morris
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 63(3) 263-270 (1973)

Measurements of Laser-Beam Scintillation in the Atmosphere

D. L. Fried, G. E. Mevers, and M. P. Keister
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 57(6) 787-797 (1967)

Measurements of the wavelength dependence and other properties of stellar scintillation at Mauna Kea, Hawaii

J. C. Dainty, B. M. Levine, B. J. Brames, and K. A. O’Donnell
Appl. Opt. 21(7) 1196-1200 (1982)

Wavelength Dependence of Total and Depolarized Back-Scattered Laser Light from Rough Metallic Surfaces*

P. K. Cheo and J. Renau
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 59(7) 821-826 (1969)