Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-19-2026
Abstract
Resolving how optical turbulence varies along a propagation path remains a key challenge for designers of free-space optical propagation systems. Instruments such as scintillometers and differential image motion monitors are commonly used, but only provide path-integrated turbulence estimates. Point sensors provide localized estimates of turbulence strength and can be used to generate path-resolved profiles when an array of point sensors are distributed along the optical path. However, this approach can be costly and complex to deploy in certain environments. Alternatively, a single point sensor can be mounted on a mobile platform that collects data while traversing the optical path, although this approach presents different logistical inconveniences. With these challenges in mind, there has been interest in using path-integrated measurements to estimate path-resolved turbulence profiles. One technique that uses this concept is a dual-beacon Shack–Hartmann-based turbulence profiler. We employ wave optics simulations to evaluate the performance of this approach. The turbulence distribution and propagation path are fully controllable, allowing us to compare turbulence profiling estimates to the user-prescribed turbulence conditions. We simulate the dual-beacon Shack–Hartmann sensing geometry and use the output to compute the differential tilt variances, from which we estimate the turbulence profile through regularized inversion. We apply truncated singular value decomposition and Tikhonov regularization to stabilize our profile retrievals across a range of turbulence strengths and distributions. Results show that meaningful profiles can be recovered over the central portion of a 1 km path, whereas sensitivity is reduced near the source and receiver due to the nature of the weighting functions that relate turbulence along the path to differential tilt variances. Additional analyses highlight the influence of noise, smoothing, and scintillation, particularly for cases with strong mid-path turbulence. These findings establish wave optics simulations as a powerful computational tool for evaluating profiling algorithms and highlight both the potential and the limits of dual-beacon tilt-based profiling approaches.
Source Publication
Optical Engineering (ISSN 0091-3286 | eISSN 1560-2303)
Recommended Citation
Benjamin Wilson, Matthew Kalensky, Santasri Bose-Pillai, et al. "Evaluating a dual-beacon Hartmann turbulence profiling technique using wave optics simulations," Optical Engineering 65(8), 081825 (19 Aug 2026) https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.65.8.081825
Comments
© The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI. (CC BY 4)
Funding note: The authors gratefully acknowledge the Office of Naval Research (ONR) (Grant No. N0001425GI00781) whose sponsorship and continuing guidance of the IAR program has made this research possible.