Higher-order statistics of laser-irradiance fluctuations due to turbulence

Higher-order coefficients (up to eighth order) that give information concerning the contribution from the tails of non-Gaussian distributions are utilized to compare model distributions (K, log-normal, Rice-Nakagami, and a universal statistical model distribution) with the measured data of 0.6328-micron laser-irradiance fluctuations propagated through a laboratory-simulated turbulence. Expressions for the coefficients of the K distribution are derived.