Near-ground vertical profile of refractive-index fluctuations

L. C. Andrews; R. L. Phillips; D. Wayne; T. Leclerc; P. Sauer; R. Crabbs; J. Kiriazes

doi:10.1117/12.820369

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30 April 2009 Near-ground vertical profile of refractive-index fluctuations

L. C. Andrews, R. L. Phillips, D. Wayne, T. Leclerc, P. Sauer, R. Crabbs, J. Kiriazes

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Proceedings Volume 7324, Atmospheric Propagation VI; 732402 (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.820369
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2009, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

The most commonly used altitude-dependent model for refractive index fluctuations, over long high-altitude slant paths or ground/space links, is the Hufnagel-Valley model. For the near-ground turbulence portion of the path, this model uses an exponential decay term suggested by Valley to connect ground level turbulence with the original Hufnagel model which was constructed for turbulence above 3 km. However, it has long been observed that refractive-index fluctuations in the first few hundred meters near the ground decrease with altitude raised to the -4/3 power rather than exponentially. Recent and some earlier measurements of refractive-index fluctuations are presented in this paper along with a theoretical modification of the Hufnagel model to account for low-altitude turbulence exhibiting this power-law behavior.

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L. C. Andrews, R. L. Phillips, D. Wayne, T. Leclerc, P. Sauer, R. Crabbs, and J. Kiriazes "Near-ground vertical profile of refractive-index fluctuations", Proc. SPIE 7324, Atmospheric Propagation VI, 732402 (30 April 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.820369

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