Atmospheric optical turbulence measurements taken at Anderson Mesa, Flagstaff, Arizona between 10-19 July 1990

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by  Vaucher, Gail M. Tirrell.;Vaucher, Christopher A.;Walters, Donald L.

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NPS-PH-91-007
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
Monterey, California
ATMOSPHERIC OPTICAL TURBULENCE MEASUREMENTS
TAKEN AT
ANDERSON MESA, FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA
BETWEEN 10-19 JULY 1990
by
G.Tirrell Vaucher, C.A. Vaucher,
and D.L. Walters
Approved for public release; distribution unlimited
Prepared for: Naval Research Laboratory
Washington, D.C. 20375
WL/ARCA
FEDDOCS
Kirtland Air Force Base
D 208.14/2
New Mexico 87117
NPS-PH-91-007
.
PW-^/_Orn
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
Monterey, California
Rear Admiral R.W. West, Jr. H. Shull
Superintendent Provost
The work reported herein was supported in part by the
Naval Research Laboratory Program at the Naval Postgraduate
School with funds provided by the Naval Research Laboratory,
Air Force Weapons Laboratory, and the Naval Postgraduate
School
Reproduction of all or part of this report is authorized.
This report was prepared by:
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11 TITLE (Include Security Classification) ATMOSPHERIC OPTICAL TURBULENCE MEASUREMENTS TAKEN AT
ANDERSON MESA, FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA BETWEEN 10-19 JULY 1990
12 PERSONAL AUTHOR(S)
Gail Tirrell Vaucher, Christopher A. Vaucher, Donald L. Walters
13a TYPE OF REPORT 13b TIME COVERED 14 DATE OF REPORT (Year, Month, Day) 15 PAGE COUNT
Technical Report FROM TO 1991 February 15 88
16 supplementary notation The views expressed in this technical report are those of the
authors and do not reflect the official policy -or position of the Dept of Defense or the
US government.
17 COSATI codes 18 SUBJECT TERMS (Continue on reverse if necessary and identify by block number)
FIELD GROUP SUB-GROUP atmospheric optical turbulence, transverse coherence
length, isoplanatic angle
19 ABSTRACT (Continue on reverse if necessary and identify by block number)
From 10 to 19 July 1990, the Naval Postgraduate School Atmospheric Optics Group
acquired atmospheric optical turbulence measurements at the 13-inch Lowell Observatory
astrographic telescope dome on Anderson Mesa, 16 km southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona.
This collection of transverse coherence lengths and isoplanatic angles was the last
in a three-part Anderson Mesa site-survey measurement set for a large-scale, ground-
based, synthetic aperture system (100-300 m baseline stellar interferometer). The
intent of this report is to compile, analyze and summarize the acquired optical data,
as well as correlate the meteorological and optical conditions present during the
data acquisitions.
20 DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY OF ABSTRACT 21 ABSTRACT SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
CS UNCLASSIFIED/UNLIMITED SAME AS RPT D DTIC USERS Unclassified
22a NAME OF RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUAL 22b TELEPHONE (Include AreaCode) c OFFICE iYMB
Gail Tirrell Vaucher (408)-646-3207/2267 PH (PH/We)
DDForm 1473. JUN 86 Previouseditionsareobsolete SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF -
S/N 0102-LF-01A-6603 Unclassified
11
ATMOSPHERIC OPTICAL TURBULENCE MEASUREMENTS
TAKEN AT
ANDERSON MESA, FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA
BETWEEN 10-19 JULY 1990
by
G.Tirrell Vaucher, C.A. Vaucher, and D.L. Walters
Atmospheric Optics Group
Department of Physics
Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, California 93943-5000
iii
ABSTRACT
From 10 to 19 July 1990, the Naval Postgraduate School
Atmospheric Optics Group acquired atmospheric optical
turbulence measurements at the 13-inch Lowell Observatory
astrographic telescope dome on Anderson Mesa, 16 km
southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona. This collection of
transverse coherence lengths and isoplanatic angles was the
last in a three-part Anderson Mesa site-survey measurement
set for a large-scale, ground-based, synthetic aperture
system (100-300 m baseline stellar interferometer). The
intent of this report is to compile, analyze and summarize
the acquired optical data, as well as correlate the
meteorological and optical conditions present during the
data acquisition.
IV
. ..
TABLE OP CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I . 1
EXPERIMENT OVERVIEW
I I . 3
A. SITE TOPOGRAPHY 3
B. DATA ACQUISITION 3
1. Optical Instrumentation and Measurements ... 3
2 Synoptic Weather Information 5
III. DATA ANALYSIS 7
A. OPTICAL DATA ANALYSIS 7
1. Transverse Coherence Length Data, ro 7
2. Isoplanatic Angle Data, Qo 11
B METEOROLOGICAL REVIEW 15
1 General Synoptic Weather 15
2. Site Weather Summary 15
IV. DATA SUMMARY 17
A. CONSOLIDATING THE PARAMETERS 17
B. OPTICAL/METEOROLOGICAL DATA CORRELATIONS 18
1. Daily Optical/Meteorological Activity 18
a. 10-12 July 1990 18
b. 13 July 1990 19
c. 14-16 July 1990 19
d. 17 July 1990 20
e. 18 July 1990 20
f. 19 July 1990 21
2. Wind Shear vs. Dominant Optical Conditions. 21
V. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS 23
APPENDIX A. DAILY SYNOPTIC WEATHER SUMMARY 25
APPENDIX B. NWS 850 AND 300 MB SYNOPTIC WEATHER CHARTS. 29
APPENDIX C. PROCESSED OPTICAL DATA (1990 JULY 10-19) .. 47
APPENDIX D. TRANSVERSE COHERENCE LENGTH STATISTICS .... 55
APPENDIX E. ISOPLANATIC ANGLE STATISTICS 63
APPENDIX F. SEPT/NOV 1989, JULY 1990 To AND 9o
DISTRIBUTIONS 69
LIST OF REFERENCES 73
INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST 75
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List of Tables
Table 1. TRANSVERSE COHERENCE LENGTH STATISTICS 8
Table 2. ISOPLANATIC ANGLE STATISTICS 12
Table 3. OPTICAL/METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY - ANDERSON MESA,
AZ 17
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