Measurements and Modeling of Optical Turbulence in the Coastal Environment
The goal of this study was to characterize optical turbulence in the near-coastal environment. Measurements to obtain the refractive index structure parameter and other meteorological data were taken over the course of a month along the shore of Monterey Bay. The results were compared to a new versi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/10/4892 |
| _version_ | 1797501830530334720 |
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| author | Sasha Barnett Joseph Blau Paul Frederickson Keith Cohn |
| author_facet | Sasha Barnett Joseph Blau Paul Frederickson Keith Cohn |
| author_sort | Sasha Barnett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The goal of this study was to characterize optical turbulence in the near-coastal environment. Measurements to obtain the refractive index structure parameter and other meteorological data were taken over the course of a month along the shore of Monterey Bay. The results were compared to a new version of the Navy Vertical Surface Layer Model (NAVSLaM), a model of turbulence originally developed for maritime environments but now extended to terrestrial environments. The new version has not been previously validated by comparisons to experiments, particularly in a complex environment such as near the coastline. Our experimental results showed generally good agreement between measured and modeled levels of turbulence. Specifically, the differences between experimental and modeled values of the refractive index structure parameter were less than an order of magnitude in most conditions and followed the same diurnal trend. There were some greater differences during near-neutral conditions, but this is a known limitation of the model. Overall, this extended model appears to do a good job of predicting turbulence in this environment for the observed time period. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:24:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-389237b2ed4840e5bc7e3f8bb61e1d3d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:24:15Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-389237b2ed4840e5bc7e3f8bb61e1d3d2023-11-23T09:54:43ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-05-011210489210.3390/app12104892Measurements and Modeling of Optical Turbulence in the Coastal EnvironmentSasha Barnett0Joseph Blau1Paul Frederickson2Keith Cohn3Department of Physics, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USADepartment of Physics, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USADepartment of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USADepartment of Physics, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USAThe goal of this study was to characterize optical turbulence in the near-coastal environment. Measurements to obtain the refractive index structure parameter and other meteorological data were taken over the course of a month along the shore of Monterey Bay. The results were compared to a new version of the Navy Vertical Surface Layer Model (NAVSLaM), a model of turbulence originally developed for maritime environments but now extended to terrestrial environments. The new version has not been previously validated by comparisons to experiments, particularly in a complex environment such as near the coastline. Our experimental results showed generally good agreement between measured and modeled levels of turbulence. Specifically, the differences between experimental and modeled values of the refractive index structure parameter were less than an order of magnitude in most conditions and followed the same diurnal trend. There were some greater differences during near-neutral conditions, but this is a known limitation of the model. Overall, this extended model appears to do a good job of predicting turbulence in this environment for the observed time period.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/10/4892optical turbulenceatmospheric measurementcoastal environmentdirected energyfree-space optical communicationsatmospheric surface layer |
| spellingShingle | Sasha Barnett Joseph Blau Paul Frederickson Keith Cohn Measurements and Modeling of Optical Turbulence in the Coastal Environment Applied Sciences optical turbulence atmospheric measurement coastal environment directed energy free-space optical communications atmospheric surface layer |
| title | Measurements and Modeling of Optical Turbulence in the Coastal Environment |
| title_full | Measurements and Modeling of Optical Turbulence in the Coastal Environment |
| title_fullStr | Measurements and Modeling of Optical Turbulence in the Coastal Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measurements and Modeling of Optical Turbulence in the Coastal Environment |
| title_short | Measurements and Modeling of Optical Turbulence in the Coastal Environment |
| title_sort | measurements and modeling of optical turbulence in the coastal environment |
| topic | optical turbulence atmospheric measurement coastal environment directed energy free-space optical communications atmospheric surface layer |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/10/4892 |
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