Near ground horizontal high resolution C n 2 profiling from Shack-Hartmann slopeand scintillation data

• Published in: Applied optics (2004) 2021-12, Vol.60 (34), p.10499-10519
• Main Authors: Sauvage, C, Robert, C, Mugnier, L M, Conan, J-M, Cohard, J-M, Nguyen, K-L, Irvine, M, Lagouarde, J-P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Engineering Sciences; Physics
• ISSN: 1559-128X; 2155-3165
• DOI: 10.1364/AO.438170

Coupled slope and scintillation detection and ranging (CO-SLIDAR) is a very promising technique for the metrology of near ground 2 profiles. It exploits both phase and scintillation measurements obtained with a dedicated wavefront sensor and allows profiling on the full line of sight between pupil and sources. This technique is applied to an associated instrument based on a mid-IR Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor coupled to a 0.35 m telescope, which observes two cooperative sources. This paper presents what we believe is the first comprehensive description of the CO-SLIDAR method in the context of near-ground optical turbulence metrology. It includes the presentation of the physics principles underlying the measurements of our unsupervised 2 profile reconstruction strategy together with the error bar estimation on the reconstructed values. The application to data acquired in a heterogeneous rural landscape during an experimental campaign in Lannemezan, France, demonstrates the ability to obtain profiles with a sampling pitch of about 220 m over a 2.7 km line of sight. The retrieved 2 profiles are presented and their variability in space and time is discussed.