Spatial and temporal characterization of phase fluctuations in non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

Atmospheric turbulence severely limits the performance of ground-based imaging and laser propagation systems. Some observational results, showing atmospheric turbulence which does not obey Kolmogorov's theory, have prompted the study of optical propagation through non-Kolmogorov turbulence. This paper presents a theoretical approach to analyse the spatial and temporal characterizations of phase fluctuations in non-Kolmogorov turbulence. The spatial structure function, the temporal structure function and the temporal power spectrum of phase fluctuations are derived. The generalized coherence length ρ0, the characteristic frequency fR and the characteristic time TR are expressed as functions of the index structure constant along the propagation path and the wind velocity. The long exposure MTF, the short exposure MTF and the imaging Strehl ratio are computed.