9.4 - An investigation of laser wave depolarization due to atmospheric transmission
- 1 November 1967
- journal article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics
- Vol. 3 (11) , 540-543
- https://doi.org/10.1109/jqe.1967.1074404
Abstract
A theoretical and an experimental analysis of optical depolarization due to atmospheric transmission is given. We used the geometrical optics approximation and applied Chernov's three-dimensional ray statistics model for the calculations. The theory predicts that the root-mean-square change of the polarization angle of an optical beam propagating through the atmosphere is of the order of 10-9rad/km. This was found to increase linearly with the path-length. The experiment was designed to measure the amount of depolarization of a linearly polarized laser wave propagating through the atmosphere. The measurements over a 2.6-km path length indicated the absence of such an effect. The sensitivity of these measurements was limited by the equipment used to -42 dB in the daytime and to -45 dB at night.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Comments on "Laser wave propagation through the atmosphere"Proceedings of the IEEE, 1967
- Laser wave propagation through the atmosphereProceedings of the IEEE, 1966
- Atmospheric Optical Effects—Polarization FluctuationJournal of the Optical Society of America, 1965