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Atmospheric Turbulence
What is an Atmospheric Turbulence?
Atmospheric Turbulence refers to random variations in air temperature, pressure, and density that cause fluctuations in the refractive index of the atmosphere. These fluctuations can distort, deflect, or attenuate an optical beam as it propagates through free space.
Atmospheric turbulence is a major challenge for free-space optical communication and laser-based sensing, particularly for optical links passing through the atmosphere. Its effects can include beam wandering, scintillation, wavefront distortion, and fluctuations in received optical power.
How an Atmospheric Turbulence Works
Atmospheric turbulence affects optical propagation by creating constantly changing refractive index variations along the beam path. These variations alter how the optical wavefront travels through the atmosphere.
Atmospheric fluctuations
Temperature and pressure variations create turbulent air cells with slightly different refractive indices.
Beam propagation
As the optical beam passes through these regions, different parts of the wavefront experience different propagation conditions.
Optical distortion
The resulting phase and amplitude fluctuations can cause beam wandering, scintillation, wavefront distortion, and variations in received signal power.
