Modeling atmospheric turbulence effects on ground-based telescope systems

Stanley M. Flatte; Lawrence William Bradford; Claire E. Max

doi:10.1117/12.177957

29 June 1994 Modeling atmospheric turbulence effects on ground-based telescope systems

Stanley M. Flatte, Lawrence William Bradford, Claire E. Max

Proceedings Volume 2222, Atmospheric Propagation and Remote Sensing III; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.177957
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Engineering and Photonics in Aerospace Sensing, 1994, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

Our numerical simulations use relatively complex models of the atmosphere to investigate both Kolmogorov and non-Kolmogorov models. We find that the measurements of Bester et al. for light passing through the upper atmosphere are within the limits of behavior for Kolmogorov models, but often only if the outer scale of turbulent fluctuations is between 15 to 100 m. The possibility that the measured behavior might be non-Kolmogorov is not excluded. We also examine measurements made along short paths in the surface boundary layer, where some measurements of Bester el al. showed variations in the atmospheric fluctuations with seeing conditions which appeared to be non-Kolmogorov. These variations can perhaps be explained by standard models, but require that seeing improve with increasing wind speed in the surface layer. We discuss some other measurements which lend some support to that idea. However, we cannot exclude non-Kolmogorov behavior. We find that meteorological data is needed concurrent with astronomical observations, to help constrain the models. The size of the outer scale, the wind velocity profile and the turbulence spectrum are important to the ultimate capabilities of interferometers and other systems with adaptive optics.

Citation Download Citation

Stanley M. Flatte, Lawrence William Bradford, and Claire E. Max "Modeling atmospheric turbulence effects on ground-based telescope systems", Proc. SPIE 2222, Atmospheric Propagation and Remote Sensing III, (29 June 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.177957

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