Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Physics and Astronomy
Committee Chair
Don Gregory
Committee Member
Jay Land
Committee Member
Richard Lieu
Committee Member
Lingze Duan
Committee Member
Steven Ehlert
Research Advisor
Don Gregory
Subject(s)
Atmospheric turbulence--Measurement, Refractive index, Optics
Abstract
This dissertation presents the development, validation, and optimization of a novel Hartmann Turbulence Sensor (HTS) for real-time, high-speed characterization of atmospheric optical turbulence. The HTS captures and processes live data at 1 kHz and reports turbulence parameters at 22 Hz. A key innovation is the integration of a dominant spectral component selection method into the Difference in Differential Tilt Variance (DDTV) algorithm. By using spectral analysis to identify areas of interest (AOIs) based on their dominant spatial frequency content, this method reduces computational load by up to 75% while maintaining a low RMS error. It also offers a visual representation of clustered dominant spectral components, providing insights into the cumulative turbulent structures along the propagation path. Experimental validation demonstrated that the HTS accurately measures essential turbulence parameters, and that the integration of dynamic AOI selection with dominant spectral analysis provides a novel approach to real-time adaptive sensing of optical turbulence.
Recommended Citation
Kaiser, Scott Alexander, "Correlating optical phase and atmospheric coherence width in characterizing turbulence" (2025). Dissertations. 444.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dissertations/444
