A method for measuring the spatial spectral density of refractive index in turbulent air flow using laser correlation technique

It is shown that in the case of a homogeneous and isotropic turbulence the knowledge of the temporal correlation function of the amplitude fluctuations on the laser beam axis allows the estimation of the spatial spectral density of the index of refraction. Under certain conditions this method may be used for atmospheric turbulent flow also, which represents in general a locally homogeneous and isotropic random field.