Effect of Eddy Diffusivity Ratio on Underwater Optical Scintillation Index

Abstract

The performance of underwater optical wireless communication systems is severely affected by the turbulence that occurs due to the fluctuations in the index of refraction. Most previous studies assume a simplifying, yet inaccurate, assumption in the turbulence spectrum model that the eddy diffusivity ratio is equal to unity. It is, however, well known that the eddy diffusivities of temperature and salt are different from each other in most underwater environments. In this paper, we obtain a simplified spatial power spectrum model of turbulent fluctuations of the seawater refraction index as an explicit function of eddy diffusivity ratio. Using the derived model, we obtain the scintillation index of optical plane and spherical waves and investigate the effect of the eddy diffusivity ratio. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America