Abstract
A hot-air turbulence emulator is employed for generating controlled optical clear air turbulence in the weak fluctuation regime in laboratory conditions. The analysis of the first and second-order statistical moments of the fluctuating intensity of a propagating infra-red (IR) laser beam through the turbulence emulator is made and the results are compared with bi-directional shore-to-ship maritime data collected during two 2009 mid-Atlantic Coast field tests utilizing single-mode adaptive optics terminals at a range of 10.7 km, as well as with a 633 nm Helium Neon laser propagating across land and water at the United States Naval Academy.
