Inferring path average Cn2 values in the marine environment.

Current mathematical scintillation theory describing laser propagation through the atmosphere has been developed for terrestrial environments. Scintillation expressions valid in all regimes of optical turbulence for propagation in the maritime environment, based on what we believe to be a newly developed marine atmospheric spectrum, have been developed for spherical waves. Path average values of the structure parameter, C(n)(2), were inferred from optical scintillation measurements of a diverged laser beam propagating in a marine environment, using scintillation expressions based on both terrestrial and marine refractive index spectra.

Theoretical wave structure function when the effect of the outer scale is significant.

The wave structure function (WSF) for a plane wave, calculated from the basic Rytov theory, is usually expressed as 6.88(r/r(0))(5/3), but this does not include the effect of a finite outer scale (or of a nonzero inner scale) of turbulence. When separation distance r is only 5% of the outer scale, this expression overpredicts the WSF by a factor of approximately 2.