Stellar-Scintillation Measurement Of The Vertical Profile Of Refractive-Index Turbulence In The Atmosphere

G. R. Ochs; R. S. Lawrence; T. Wang

doi:10.1117/12.954737

19 July 1976 Stellar-Scintillation Measurement Of The Vertical Profile Of Refractive-Index Turbulence In The Atmosphere

G. R. Ochs, R. S. Lawrence, T. Wang

Proceedings Volume 0075, Imaging Through the Atmosphere; (1976) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.954737
Event: 1976 SPIE/SPSE Technical Symposium East, 1976, Reston, United States

Abstract

We observe the turbulence-induced scintillation (twinkling) of a single star to measure, from the ground, the vertical profile of refractive-index turbulence in the atmosphere. A linear combination, with appropriate weights, of the strength of the scintillations observed with receivers of various spatial wavelengths allows us to synthesize a path weighting function centered at a specific height. The central height and height resolution of the measurement can be controlled by changing the relative coefficients and spatial wavelengths of the receiver outputs. Twenty-minute measurements, made with stars of second magnitude or brighter and with a 36-cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, show that the atmospheric turbulence can be divided into four independent height regions with reasonable accuracy. The measurements of the different spatial wavelengths are made sequentially with the same telescope, and the statistical stationarity of the atmosphere during the 20-minute observation period is crucial to the accuracy of the deduced profile. Stationarity is roughly checked by continuously monitoring the whole-aperture scintillation of the star. The observed profiles agree with the strength and general shape of accepted models of the atmosphere and with profiles obtained from aircraft-mounted and previously used balloon-borne in-situ sensors.

Citation Download Citation

G. R. Ochs, R. S. Lawrence, and T. Wang "Stellar-Scintillation Measurement Of The Vertical Profile Of Refractive-Index Turbulence In The Atmosphere", Proc. SPIE 0075, Imaging Through the Atmosphere, (19 July 1976); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.954737

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