<title>Realistic wind effects on turbulence and thermal blooming compensation</title>

Abstract

Time dependent propagation code simulations are described for phase compensation of atmospheric turbulence and thermal blooming. Test results, using convected phase screens to represent the optical turbulence, are compared with steady-state simulation results and, also, for fixed and variable direction wind conditions. Realistic wind effects on propagation are investigated by performing 4D code simulations to compare the effects of actual wind observations with monthly mean wind profile models for the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). Critical power levels are compared for the mean and observed wind conditions at WSMR within the same month. Estimates of the critical power are also compared with the simulation results using the wind shear damping model for blooming instabilities, developed by Morris, et al., (SPIE Proc. flj, 229 (1990)).