Analysis of laser beam propagation in a turbulent atmosphere

The beam propagation method, based on the parabolic approximation to the wave equation, is used in conjunction with Papoulis' redefinition for optical fields of Woodward's ambiguity function. A simple derivation is given of Tatarskii's formula for the lateral coherence function, and hence the mean intensity profile, of a laser beam propagating through a turbulent atmosphere. Statistics of the received signal and the effects of spatial nonstationarity of the turbulence can also be deduced using this technique, as can the effects of very large-scale variations in refractive index and receiver directivity.