Spatial power spectrum of natural water turbulence with any average temperature, salinity concentration and light wavelength

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the optical turbulence power spectrum in water varies with temperature, salinity, and light wavelength, providing a model applicable to natural water conditions and light propagation analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model of water optical turbulence power spectrum considering temperature, salinity, and wavelength variations across natural conditions.

Findings

Power spectrum varies with temperature, salinity, and wavelength.

Model estimates scintillation index and turbulence regime thresholds.

Applicable to natural water environments within Earth's boundary layer.

Abstract

The power spectrum of water optical turbulence is shown to vary with its average temperature $\left\langle T \right\rangle$ and average salinity concentration $\left\langle S \right\rangle$, as well as with light wavelength $\lambda$. This study explores such variations for $\left\langle T \right\rangle \in \left[ {0\ ^\circ\rm{C},30\ ^\circ\rm{C}} \right]$, $\left\langle S \right\rangle \in \left[ {0\ \rm{ppt},40\ \rm{ppt}} \right]$ covering most of the possible natural water conditions within the Earth's boundary layer and for visible electromagnetic spectrum, $\lambda \in \left[400\ nm, 700\ nm \right]$. For illustration of the effects of these parameters on propagating light we apply the developed power spectrum model for estimation of the scintillation index of a plane wave (the Rytov variance) and the threshold between weak and strong turbulence regimes.