Abstract

To analyze the effects of atmospheric refractive turbulence on coherent lidar performance in a realistic way it is necessary to consider the use of simulations of beam propagation in three-dimensional random media. The capability of the split-step solution to simulate the propagation phenomena is shown, and the limitations and numerical requirements for a simulation of given accuracy are established. Several analytical theories that describe laser beam spreading, beam wander, coherence diameters, and variance and autocorrelation of the beam intensity are compared with results from simulations. Although the analysis stems from a study of coherent lidar performance, the conclusions of the method are applicable to other areas related to beam propagation in the atmosphere.

© 2000 Optical Society of America

Heterodyne lidar returns in the turbulent atmosphere: performance evaluation of simulated systems

Aniceto Belmonte and Barry J. Rye
Appl. Opt. 39(15) 2401-2411 (2000)

Wave optics simulation of atmospheric turbulence and reflective speckle effects in CO₂ lidar

Douglas H. Nelson, Donald L. Walters, Edward P. MacKerrow, Mark J. Schmitt, Charles R. Quick, William M. Porch, and Roger R. Petrin
Appl. Opt. 39(12) 1857-1871 (2000)

Effects of refractive turbulence on ground-based verification of coherent Doppler lidar performance

Rod Frehlich
Appl. Opt. 39(24) 4237-4246 (2000)

Numerical simulation of the effect of refractive turbulence on coherent lidar return statistics in the atmosphere

Viktor A. Banakh, Igor N. Smalikho, and Christian Werner
Appl. Opt. 39(30) 5403-5414 (2000)

Simulation of laser propagation in a turbulent atmosphere

Rod Frehlich
Appl. Opt. 39(3) 393-397 (2000)