Optical Turbulence Forecasting: A Tutorial

This report is a tutorial on the effects of atmospheric turbulence upon systems which rely upon the propagation of LASER beams. In addition to providing a simplified presentation of turbulence theory and optical effects, it describes the state of the art of the new technique of radiosonde estimation of index of refraction fluctuations. suggestions are given for future research which will help to answer current Air Force needs. The feasibility of some laser systems will depend upon the value of r sub o, the coherence length (which is related to C sub n sq. which in turn is related to the degree of turbulence). At present, the statistics of r sub o are inadequate. (Author)