Assessment of Optical Turbulence Profiles Derived From Probabilistic Climatology
Abstract
This research e ort assesses the performance of the High Energy Laser End-to-End Operational Simulation (HELEEOS) Climatological C2noptical turbulence model. Path-integrated C2nvalues of two HELEEOS optical turbulence pro les at 3 distinct operational altitudes are compared to values determined from measured thermosonde data. HELEEOS desert and mid-latitude sites are selected from the Extreme and Percentile Environmental Reference Tables (ExPERT) database for comparison to the thermosonde data. Statistical equivalence of the two datasets is determined through a Design of Experiments (DOE) factorial test to within 80% con dence. The HELEEOS pro les are shown to be equivalent to the thermosonde data for a 500 m boundary layer pro le. Deterministic values of the 80% con dence intervals are established. The HELEEOS optical turbulence model is used as the input turbulence model for wave optics simulations. Long-term spot size measurements show that HELEEOS outperforms empirical turbulence models by as much as 17%. Recommendations are made to improve the HELEEOS graphical outputs and reference tables.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA465283
Entities
People
- Brett W. Wisdom
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology