PDF models of the irradiance fluctuations in Gaussian beam waves

Abstract

The lognormal and gamma-gamma distributions are compared to simulated and experimental data of the irradiance fluctuations of a Gaussian beam wave propagating through the atmosphere on a horizontal path, near ground, in the moderate-to-strong turbulence regime. Irradiance data was collected simultaneously at three receiving apertures of different size. Atmospheric parameters were inferred from the measurements and used to reproduce the experimental data with numerical simulations and calculate the parameters for the theoretical probability density functions (PDFs). The simulation values agree well with the experimental data for all three aperture sizes, while the support for the theoretical PDFs depends on the size of the receiving aperture.