Irradiance variance of optical waves through atmospheric turbulence by numerical simulation and comparison with experiment

Irradiance variance for optical propagation through atmospheric turbulence is calculated by numerical simulation. Let l0 be the inner scale, Rf be the Fresnel scale, and β02 be the weak-fluctuation irradiance variance at zero inner scale. Then results in the strong-focusing regime just past the peak can be summarized by σI2 = 1.74 − 0.092β0 + 0.60(l0/Rf) for a plane wave and σI2 = 3.02 − 0.35β0 + 5.56(l0/Rf) for a point source. These numerical results are in excellent agreement with experimental results.