Adaptive optics and the outer scale of turbulence

Abstract

The outer-scale influence on spatial and temporal characteristics of turbulence-induced wave-front distortions is discussed. The calculation results for the image centroid and the Zernike modes are presented. Two methods of the outer-scale estimation based on tilt and defocus and on image centroid measurements are suggested. The application of the results obtained to adaptive optics problems is considered. Finally, a possibility of prediction of the wave-front statistical characteristics is discussed.