Comparison of Recent Measurements of Atmospheric Optical Turbulence

Abstract

A recent multi-sensor optical turbulence measurement campaign in the Haute-Provence region of France provided a unique comparison of optical turbulence sensors. Thermosondes from both the US and France were used. measuring temperature structure functions for 30 com, 95 cm, and 1 meter. In addition, turbulence was measured using a Generalized Scidar (GS) mounted on a 1.93 m diameter telescope at 1'Observatoire de Haute-Provence (OH). The GS measures optical turbulence strength and altitude from the scintillation of binary stars observed over periods from several minutes to several hours. The GS has 300 m vertical resolution from 25 km down to nearly the opt of the telescope. This paper describes the instruments and compares their performance. While the instruments did not yield identical results, agreement was reasonable. Jean VerninT, Max Azouit%, and Herve' Trinquet%

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA442791

Entities

People

  • George Y. Jumper
  • Herve Trinquet
  • Jean Vernin
  • Max Azouit

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Altitude
  • Atmospheric Motion
  • Binary Stars
  • Detectors
  • Diameters
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Measurement
  • Military Research
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Scintillation
  • Stars
  • Telescopes
  • Turbulence

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  • European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
  • Mathematics or Statistics

Technology Areas

  • Space