In J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 29, 169 (2012), Gerçekcioğlu and Baykal presented an investigation of the dependence of the scintillation index of flat-topped Gaussian beams on the exponent $\alpha$ of the power-law-type spectra of non-Kolmogorov turbulence. In particular, they found that the scintillation index reaches a maximum at $\alpha \approx 3.2$. We show that this conclusion is an artifact of their specific calculation, and depends on the choice of the length unit. Gerçekcioğlu and Baykal’s calculations are made for the $3<\alpha <5$ range of the spectral exponent. We show that for the homogeneous and isotropic turbulence the correct range is $3<\alpha <4$, when Markov approximation is used.

© 2012 Optical Society of America

1. H. Gerçekcioğlu and Y. Baykal, “Intensity fluctuations of flat-topped beam in non-Kolmogorov weak turbulence,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 29, 169–173 (2012). [CrossRef]
2. M. I. Charnotskii, “Asymptotic analysis of finite-beam scintillation in a turbulent medium,” Waves Random Media 4, 243–273 (1994). [CrossRef]
3. V. I. Tatarskii, Wave Propagation in Random Media (McGraw-Hill, 1961).
4. S. M. Rytov, Yu. A. Kravtsov, and V. I. Tatarskii, Principles of Statistical Radiophysics. 4. Wave Propagation through Random Media (Springer, 1988).

J. Opt. Soc. Am. A

• H. Gerçekcioğlu and Y. Baykal, “Intensity fluctuations of flat-topped beam in non-Kolmogorov weak turbulence,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 29, 169–173 (2012). [CrossRef]

Waves Random Media

• M. I. Charnotskii, “Asymptotic analysis of finite-beam scintillation in a turbulent medium,” Waves Random Media 4, 243–273 (1994). [CrossRef]

Other

• V. I. Tatarskii, Wave Propagation in Random Media (McGraw-Hill, 1961).
• S. M. Rytov, Yu. A. Kravtsov, and V. I. Tatarskii, Principles of Statistical Radiophysics. 4. Wave Propagation through Random Media (Springer, 1988).

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