Although strong atmospheric turbulence is often encountered in many space (low elevation angles) and horizontal paths, no large efforts have been made to analyze the problem critically through analytical approaches. Simulations have been done based on phase screen approaches and some mitigation methods have been invented. Some work has been done to characterize the moderately strong optical turbulence and its effects on the histograms of the intensity. To develop a clear understanding of the problem and to optimize the methods of mitigating the strong turbulence affects in such important applications as space-based imaging and the design of adaptive optics systems; a critical examination of various phenomena in strong turbulence in spatial, temporal, and related spectral domains is needed. The approaches will involve multidimensional integrals and phase screen based simulations, and will use Air Force supercomputing resources available locally to calculate the results and compare with experimental data, if needed. This effort supports several ongoing projects in space imaging, horizontal propagation compensation, sodium guide star beacons, and related problems and deep turbulence mitigation. The participants will have opportunities to work with these groups and develop a specific set of issues to be addressed.

 

Reference

Tyler GA: Journal of the Optical Society of America A 23: 1914, 2006

 

Keywords:

Atmospheric turbulences; Speckle; Imaging; Laser; Adaptive optics; Anisoplanatism; Computation;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants