OTProf: estimating high-resolution profiles of optical turbulence ($C_n^2$) from reanalysis using deep learning

TL;DR

OTProf is a deep learning approach that estimates high-resolution optical turbulence profiles from coarse reanalysis data, improving accuracy over traditional models for astronomy and communication applications.

Contribution

This work introduces OTProf, a novel deep learning method that efficiently predicts detailed $C_n^2$ profiles from ERA5 reanalysis data, outperforming existing models.

Findings

OTProf reproduces the vertical structure of $C_n^2$ more accurately than Hufnagel-Valley.

OTProf yields more accurate estimates of the Fried parameter $r_0$ and scintillation index $\sigma_I^2$.

Predictions are slightly smoothed, which can lead to optimistic estimates in rare strong turbulence cases.

Abstract

Accurate high-resolution vertical profiles of optical turbulence ($C_n^2$), which reflect local meteorology and topography, are crucial for ground-based optical astronomy and free-space optical communication. However, measuring these profiles or generating them with numerical weather models requires substantial operational or computational effort. In this work, we present OTProf, a deep-learning method that estimates high-resolution $C_n^2$ profiles from widely available coarse-resolution ERA5 reanalysis data. We evaluate the approach in the Netherlands and compare it with the commonly used Hufnagel-Valley model. Overall, OTProf reproduces the vertical structure of $C_n^2$ more accurately than Hufnagel-Valley and yields more accurate estimates of the Fried parameter $r_0$ and the scintillation index $\sigma_I^2$. As typical in machine learning, the $C_n^2$ predictions are slightly smoothed compared to reference data, especially in cases of rare strong turbulence. This smoothing affects the integrated parameters, sometimes leading to overly optimistic $r_0$ and $\sigma_I^2$ values. Despite this limitation, OTProf offers a more accurate, efficient, and physically consistent alternative to traditional analytical models and computationally expensive mesoscale models.