Propagation of high energy laser beams to space has previously been evaluated on the basis of constant, seasonally averaged standard atmospheres, time constant levels of turbulence with the appropriate altitude profile, and time constant winds in direction and velocity, independent of altitude. In actuality, atmospheric conditions are highly variable resulting in a large spread in propagation performance as a function of time. The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology for determining the propagation performance on an annual probability basis, and to give an example of the use of this methodology.

Date Published: 19 December 1979
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 0195, Atmospheric Effects on Radiative Transfer, (19 December 1979); doi: 10.1117/12.957947

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0195:
Atmospheric Effects on Radiative Transfer
Claus B. Ludwig, Editor(s)