25 July 2023 Anisoplanatic optical turbulence simulation for near-continuous Cn2 profiles without wave propagation
Nick Chimitt, Stanley Chan
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

For the simulation of anisoplanatic optical turbulence, split-step propagation is the gold standard. Within the context of the degradations being limited to phase distortions, one instead may focus on generating the phase realizations directly, a method that has been utilized in previous so-called multi-aperture simulations. Presently, this modality assumes a constant Cn2 profile. This work presents an alternative derivation for Zernike correlations under anisoplanatic conditions. Multi-aperture simulation easily incorporates these correlations into its framework and achieve a significantly higher degree of accuracy with a minimal increase in time. We additionally use our developed methodology to explain previously reported discrepancies in an empirical implementation of split-step with the analytic tilt correlation. Finally, we outline a major limitation for Zernike-based simulation that still remains.

© 2023 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Nick Chimitt and Stanley Chan "Anisoplanatic optical turbulence simulation for near-continuous Cn2 profiles without wave propagation," Optical Engineering 62(7), 078103 (25 July 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.62.7.078103
Received: 9 December 2022; Accepted: 5 July 2023; Published: 25 July 2023
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KEYWORDS
Wave propagation

Optical simulations

Optical turbulence

Optical engineering

Computer simulations

Turbulence

Zernike polynomials

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