Long-Term Near-Ground Optical Scintillation Measurements

Kurzfassung

A long-term measurement of the received-power fluctuations caused by atmospheric index-of-refraction turbulence in a near-ground optical free-space laser transmission experiment has been carried out over an eight-months period. Atmospheric index-of-refraction turbulence causes intensity variations in time and space (so called scintillations), these were monitored with several receiver apertures. The purpose of this experiment was to gather data for the evaluation of atmospheric optical free-space transmission scenarios. These range from optical last-mile connections to interconnections of stratospheric platforms or satellite downlinks. The comparison with meteorological data conditionally allows predictions on other link scenario's behaviour under comparable boundary conditions. One motivation for this experiment was the prediction of free-space link performance based on easily measurable meteorological environmental conditions.