Adaptive Optics Correction of Scintillation in Underwater Medium

Abstract

Adaptive optics correction of the scintillation index of a Gaussian laser beam in underwater turbulence is studied. To introduce the adaptive optics correction, filter functions providing the piston, tilt and astigmatism effects are adapted to promote the spectrum of underwater turbulence. The reduction of the scintillation index due to the individual piston, tilt, astigmatism effects and their sum is examined versus the ratio of temperature to salinity contributions to the refractive index spectrum, the rate of dissipation of mean squared temperature, the rate of dissipation of kinetic energy per unit mass of fluid, receiving aperture diameter, source size, link length and the wavelength. For any value of underwater turbulence parameter, the most effective adaptive optics corrections are found to be the piston, tilt and astigmatism, respectively.