Feasibility of Balloon-Borne Optical Measurement of (C sub n) Squared.

Abstract

Investigation of an in situ method for determining altitude profiles of the optical index of refraction structure constant by balloon-borne direct optical measurement is described. Laser beam wander versus time may be determined with great precision utilizing a position sensing photodetector and the optical index of refraction structure constant derived from these measurements. The instrument configuration, components, weight, power and telemetry requirements, and probable measurement sensitivity as a function of operational altitude range and duration of flight are considered.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 26, 1981
Accession Number
ADA111837

Entities

People

  • C. A. Trowbridge
  • G. Davidson

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Altitude
  • Amplifiers
  • Atmospheric Motion
  • Balloons
  • Classification
  • Command And Control
  • Detectors
  • Electronics
  • Laser Beams
  • Lasers
  • Measurement
  • Meteorological Balloons
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Telemetry
  • Transmitters

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Test and Evaluation
  • Geotechnical Engineering.
  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy