Abstract

A precise statistical definition is established for the geometric “shape” of a randomly distorted wavefront. Relationships between the phase-structure function and the statistics governing the shape are derived. The most significant portion of wavefront distortion caused by atmospheric turbulence is a random tilting of the plane-wave front. A procedure is outlined for calculating the influence of wavefront distortion on optical systems. Estimates are formed of the effect of wave-front distortion on photographic resolution and optical heterodyne efficiency.

© 1965 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article

Corrections

D. L. Fried, "Errata: Statistics of a Geometric Representation of Wave-front Distortion.," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56, 410-410 (1966)
http://proxy.osapublishing.org/josa/abstract.cfm?uri=josa-56-3-410
OSA Recommended Articles
Dihedral representations and statistical geometric optics. I. Spherocylindrical lenses

Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan and Marlos Viana
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 22(11) 2483-2489 (2005)

Average Transfer Function from Statistics of Wavefront Distortions*

Eugene A. Trabka
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(1) 128-129 (1966)

Measurement of geometric distortion in a turbulent atmosphere

Laurence J. November
Appl. Opt. 25(3) 392-397 (1986)

More Recommended Articles

References

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription

Equations (129)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access OSA Member Subscription