Date of Award
9-1998
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Department of Engineering Physics
First Advisor
Bryon M. Welsh, PhD
Abstract
Anisoplanatism in adaptive optics (AO) systems is a performance-degrading effect that arises whenever light from the wave-front sensor beacon and light from the object of interest sample different volumes of optical turbulence. This effect occurs if there is either a spatial separation between the object and the beacon, or a spatial separation between the wave-front sensor and phase-compensation aperture, or if both types of separation are present in the AO system. Anisoplanatism results in an increased value of the aperture-averaged residual phase variance after AO compensation, which causes an exponential decrease in system performance. This dissertation offers a theoretical framework in which the most-general form of anisoplanatism can be analyzed.
AFIT Designator
AFIT-DS-ENP-98-01
DTIC Accession Number
ADA353786
Recommended Citation
Whiteley, Matthew R., "Optimal Atmospheric Compensation for Anisoplanatism in Adaptive-Optical Systems" (1998). Theses and Dissertations. 5521.
https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/5521