On the Determination of the Index of Refraction of the Atmosphere

Abstract

The index of refraction of radio and optical waves in the lower atmosphere are examined in this note. Relations are derived between neutral density fluctuations and radar and optical reflectivity that results in reasonable values of C sub n squared, the refractivity structure constant. An alternative formulation of C sub n squared is derived using the mean atmospheric density structure and the rate of turbulent dissipation. The resulting values of C sub n squared are very near those calculated from the fluctuation analysis.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA132107

Entities

People

  • Samuel P. Zimmerman
  • Thomas J. Keneshea

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Atmospheres
  • Atmospheric Density
  • Boundary Layer
  • Classification
  • Dielectric Permittivity
  • Dissipation
  • Heat Flux
  • Measurement
  • Radio Waves
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Richardson Number
  • Scattering
  • Security
  • Water Vapor
  • Wave Propagation

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Plasma Physics.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.
  • Regression Analysis.