Simulating atmospheric turbulence: Code development and educational applications

Earth atmosphere turbulence affects many areas of interest related with Space studies, such as optical communications or Astronomy. In fact, it is a key topic for such applications and, thus, it is important for students in aerospace and aeronavigation studies to get some knowledge of the basis of such phenomena, and how to compensate for it. The phenomenon of turbulence is tangent to many areas such as Optics, Meteorology, Fluid Dynamics, Astronomy, Space Science and Telecommunications, among others. To properly understand the effect of such phenomena on the propagation of an optical signal is imprescindible to properly evaluate and implement the corrections introduced with Adaptive Optics [1] and for understanding the limitations of optical free-space communications channels. The simulation of optical propagation through turbulence constitutes an intuitive and powerful tool for visualizing and understanding such phenomena. Within those ideas, a Final Degree Project, based on the development of simulation tools of atmospheric turbulence is carried out in the Escola d’Enginyeria de Telecomunicacions i Aeroespacial de Castelldefels (EETAC) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). In this communication the development of an application, written in MATLAB®, for the simulation of optical propagation through turbulent mediums is presented. The project consists of the development of a software based on scalar diffraction theory [2] and Kolmogorov’s turbulence theory for the generation of turbulent phases under specific meteorological conditions and the simulation of the propagation of an electromagnetic signal through them. With this tool, different applications are going to be analysed. As an example of application, at the moment this communication is presented, the code is capable of performing the reconstruction of the generated phase in terms of Zernike coefficients [3], providing key information for the understanding of the aberrations introduced by the turbulence and also for correcting them with a proper design. The communication first describes the main basis of the problem, in terms of scalar diffraction theory, and the structure of the application. Later, some results are presented and discussed. Finally, the application of the tool for adaptive optics, optical free-space communications and as an educational application for aeronavigation and aerospace students is discussed, with emphasis in the context of the different degrees, courses and subjects taught in the EETAC.