Time-dependent propagation of high-energy laser beams through the atmosphere, 3
Abstract
An accurate computational model of combined strong t3-blooming and steady-state multiple-pulse blooming is described. A single-pulse calculation and a series of calculations for an overlap number of 1.5 are presented. A new method is derived for calculating a corrective phase to compensate for thermal blooming. This method, which is based on an equivalent thin-lens model, provides a fast and accurate estimate of the compensating phase when most of the phase distortion occurs near the laser. It is capable of computing the steady-state compensation for thermal blooming of either CW or multiple-pulse laser beams in noncoplanar scenarios. Several examples of phase compensation calculations are presented including compensation for a quasi-stagnation zone (an almost zero wind-speed minimum) near the laser. Finally, the effects of realistic intensity and phase profiles, stagnation zones, and smoke clouds on laser beam propagation in Army scenarios are examined.
- Publication:
-
Unknown
- Pub Date:
- December 1977
- Bibcode:
- 1977tdph.rept.....M
- Keywords:
-
- Beams (Radiation);
- Laser Beams;
- Thermal Blooming;
- Wave Propagation;
- Time Dependence;
- Turbulence;
- Wind Velocity;
- Lasers and Masers