Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle, a two-frequency, two-point cross-spectral density function of partially coherent Gaussian-Schell model pulse （GSMP） beam propagation in slant atmospheric turbulence is derived. Using the Markov approximation method and on the assumption that （w1 - w2）/（w1 ＋ w2） ≤ 1, the theory obtained is valid for turbulence of any strength and can be applied to narrow-band signals. The expressions for average beam intensity, the beam size, and the two-frequency complex degree of coherence of a GSMP beam are obtained. The numerical results are presented, and the effects of the frequency, initial pulse width, initial beam radius, zenith angle, and outer scales on the complex degree of coherence are discussed. This study provides a better understanding of the second-order statistics of a GSMP beam propagating through atmospheric turbulence in the space-frequency domain.
Research on light scattering from a large chiral sphere shows that the rainbow phenomenon is different from that of an isotropic sphere. A chiral sphere with certain chirality generates three first-order rainbows. In this Letter,we present a geometric optics interpretation for the phenomenon and make a calculation of the rainbow angles.The ray traces inside the sphere are determined by the reflection and refraction laws of light at the achiral–chiral interface and the chiral–achiral interface. The calculated rainbow angles achieve good agreements with those obtained by the analytical solutions. The effects of chirality and the refractive index of the sphere on rainbow angles are analyzed.
The extended Huygens-Fresnel principle and Goodman model was utilized for target surface to derive the mutual coherence function(MCF) of a Gaussian beam reflected from an arbitrary rough target in atmospheric turbulence. According to the MCF, expressions of the mean irradiance and average speckle size at the receiver were obtained. The analysis indicated that the mean intensity is closely related to the ratio of root mean square(rms) height to the lateral correlation length. In addition, the speckle size at the receiver is associated with turbulence strength, propagation distance and roughness of the target. The results can be reduced to the result of a Gaussian beam illuminating rough target and scattering from a target in free space.
The second-order and fourth-order statistical moments of the speckle field from a diffuse target in atmospheric turbulence are studied which have great influence on the performance of lidar systems. By expanding a general rotationally symmetric beam as a sum of Gaussian-Schell model （GSM） beams, the mean intensity of the general beam propagating over a distance in an atmospheric turbulence is formulated. Expressions for the degree of coherence （DOC） and the normalized intensity variance of the scattered field of a general beam from a rough surface in turbulence are derived based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle. The general expressions reduce to the well-known forms for a GSM beam. Another example for the general beam used in this paper is the collimated flat-topped beam. The results of both kinds of beams show that the intensity profile on the target plane is a key factor affecting the statistical characteristics of the speckle field. A larger beam spot on the target plane induces a smaller coherence length and a smaller normalized intensity variance of the received field. As turbulence gets stronger, the coherence length becomes smaller, and the normalized intensity variance firstly increases and declines to unity finally.
Based on the modified Rytov theory and the international telecommunication union-radio （ITU-R） slant atmospheric structure constant model, the uniform scintillation index of partially coherent Gaussian-Schell model （GSM） beam propa- gation in the slant path is derived from weak- to strong-turbulence regions considering inner- and outer-scale effects. The effects of wavelength of beams and inner- and outer-scale of turbulence on scintillation are analyzed numerically. Compar- ison between the scintillation of GSM beams under the von Karman spectrum and that of beams under the modified Hill spectrum is made. The results obtained show that the scintillation index obtained under the von Karman spectrum is smaller than that under the modified Hill spectrum. This study can find theory bases for the experiments of the partially coherent GSM beam propagation through atmospheric turbulence.
The maritime tropospheric duct is a low-altitude anomalous refractivity structure over the ocean surface,and it can significantly affect the performance of many shore-based/shipboard radar and communication systems.We propose the idea that maritime tropospheric ducts can be retrieved from ocean forward-scattered low-elevation global positioning system（GPS） signals.Retrieval is accomplished by matching the measured power patterns of the signals to those predicted by the forward propagation model as a function of the modified refractivity profile.On the basis of a parabolic equation method and bistatic radar equation,we develop such a forward model for computing the trapped propagation characteristics of an ocean forward-scattered GPS signal within a tropospheric duct.A new GPS scattering initial field is defined for this model to start the propagation modeling.A preliminary test on the performance of this model is conducted using measured data obtained from a 2009-experiment in the South China Sea.Results demonstrate that this model can predict GPS propagation characteristics within maritime tropospheric ducts and serve as a forward model for duct inversion.
