Fiber-optic atmospheric turbulence sensor.
A novel dual-air-gap fiber-optic Mach - Zehnder interferometer is proposed for the direct measurement of the atmospheric optical turbulence structure constant C(n)(2). The shot-noise-limited minimum detectable structure constant is estimated to be 4.5 x 10(-20) m(-2/3), which is more than 2 orders of magnitude below a typical value of 10(-17) m(-2/3) for weak turbulence. This sensor is suitable for the measurement of atmospheric turbulence over land and ocean surfaces.
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Mermelstein