Abstract

One effect of atmospheric turbulence on laser beam propagation is to randomly spatially modulate the intensity. Consequently, by optically spatially filtering the received intensity, the turbulence-induced spatial modulation can be separated from other effects. In a previous paper, the theory applicable to this problem was developed. This work involves measurement of the on-axis mean, variance, and autocovariance of the intensity for line of sight laser propagation after the received radiation has been high-pass spatially filtered. The experiment was conducted over a flat, featureless 500-m atmospheric propagation path that has nearly uniform turbulence. The experimental results are compared to theory and the usefulness of the technique for sensing the strength of turbulence discussed.

© 1985 Optical Society of America