A Review of Daytime Atmospheric Optical Turbulence Profile Detection Technology

Abstract

Atmospheric turbulence has been confirmed as the primary source affecting the quality of ground-based telescope image. To reduce the effect of atmosphere, a good site should be selected, and adaptive optics (AO) should be installed for the telescope. In general, the daytime atmospheric turbulence is more intense than that at night under the effect of solar radiation. Numerous solar telescopes have built AO systems worldwide. Conventional AO is only capable of improving the image quality in a small field of view, whereas it cannot satisfy the needs of a large field of view. The novel wide field adaptive optical system is capable of achieving a large field of view and high-resolution images, whereas the atmospheric turbulence profile should be accurately detected, which is the prerequisite and key parameter of the novel AO system. Moreover, the astronomical high-resolution technology in accordance with the turbulence imaging theory requires more detailed detection of turbulence. Accordingly, a brief review about the latest detection technology of the daytime optical turbulence profile is valuable for astronomical observations. Besides, the parameters of atmospheric turbulence are briefly introduced. Subsequently, SNODAR, SHABAR, MOSP, DIMM+, A-MASP, and other detection technologies of the stratified atmospheric turbulence for daytime are primarily presented, and the advantages and disadvantages of the different technologies are summarized.