Atmospheric optical turbulence over land in

middle east coastal environments: prediction

modeling and measurements

Sergey Bendersky, Norman S. Kopeika, and Natan Blaunstein

Beam intensity scintillations, characterized by a refractive-index structure parameter and caused by

variations of macrometeorological features of the coastal atmosphere such as air temperature, wind speed
and direction, and relative humidity, are examined theoretically and experimentally. In our theoretical
analysis we present two well-known models considered separately for over-water and over-land atmo-
spheric optical communication or imaging channels. By means of comparison with our experiments
carried out in midland coastal environments in southern and northern Israel, we show the limitations of
the models to predict the refractive-index structure Cn2 parameter for both daytime and nighttime
turbulent atmospheres in different coastal zone meteorological conditions. We also present an extension
of an existing model with two different practical applications that, as is shown experimentally, can be a
good predictor of Cn2 for optical atmospheric paths over midland coastal zones. © 2004 Optical Society
of America
OCIS codes: 010.0010, 010.1330, 010.7060, 280.7060.

1. Introduction forward-looking infrared, and infrared search and

Optical turbulence is well known to affect, often
strongly, various types of electro-optic sensing sys-
tem. Considerable effort has been devoted to study-
ing atmospheric effects on wave propagation, optical
and electromagnetic, along ground–air and air–air
communication links. Another atmospheric phe-
nomenon that also strongly affects electro-optic sys-
tems is radiation scatter by aerosols. For modeling
atmospheric propagation of optical beams, commonly
used empirical and semiempirical models were devel-
oped for the open ocean1–5 and continental6 –10 aerosol
conditions. However, they are inadequate to repre-
sent their effects in a coastal environment because
they do not account for specific processes that are
unique to this region.11–13 Clouds and coastal aero-
sols, i.e., continental and surf-generated aerosols, can
also greatly affect the performance of airborne
All the authors are with the Ben Gurion University of the Negev,
P.O.B. 653, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. S. Bendersky and N. S.
Kopeika 共kopeika@ee.bgu.ac.il兲 are with the Department of Elec-
trooptics Engineering. N. Blaunstein is with the Department of
Communication Systems Engineering.
Received 30 July 2003; revised manuscript received 19 April
2004; accepted 19 April 2004.
0003-6935兾04兾204070-10$15.00兾0
© 2004 Optical Society of America
track systems that operate within the coastal
zone.14 –16 A system engineering approach requires
consideration of both turbulence and aerosol effects
when considering the atmospheric channel.7,17
Here, we focus on turbulence effects and modeling.
The turbulent atmosphere causes the intensity of a
wave beam to fluctuate or scintillate, causes beam
wander, and causes distortion and random displace-
ment of images. The optical effects of atmospheric
turbulence depend primarily on the refractive-index
structure parameter Cn2.
The interaction between atmospheric optics and
meteorology has been the subject of continuous ex-
perimental and theoretical study.17–23 The general
approach with regard to turbulence has often been
one of micrometeorology,17–28 involving point mea-
surements of local gradients, wind shear, etc. How-
ever, for a long line of sight, micrometeorological data
are often difficult to obtain and are not readily avail-
able in standard weather forecasts. These difficul-
ties can be overcome by use of macroscale weather
parameters such as air temperature, wind speed and
direction, and relative humidity, all of which do not
vary too greatly with distance and are much more
readily available.
Here we discuss the theoretical analyses of optical
turbulence over land in various coastal zones based
on two models that are valid in the atmospheric sur-

4070 APPLIED OPTICS 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 10 July 2004

face over marine6,24 and land7,9 boundary layers.
Some specific experiments carried out in two differ-
ent places in southern and northern Israel to inves-
tigate the effects of macrometeorological parameters
and the features of refractive-index variations along
coastal optical atmospheric links are described here.
Prediction models of refractive-index structure pa-
rameter variations are based on geophysical data
that incorporate the gradient of temperatures, the
values of relative humidity, and the wind speed gra-
dient as a best fit of experimental data obtained dur-
ing these experiments. The Thiermann–Kohnle
model6 is based on the Monin–Obuhkov similarity
共MOS兲 theory29,30 in which physical quantities are
scaled with the turbulent fluxes of heat and momen-
tum. The model is valid in the atmospheric surface
layer over land. The required inputs for the model
are the standard meteorological parameters: air
temperature, wind speed, and barometric pressure.
Other inputs are solar irradiance, terrain albedo,
roughness length, and ground humidity. In con-
trast with this model, the prediction of turbulence
refractive-index parameters by macroscale mod-
els7,9,17 can be performed without long calculation
algorithms and require air temperature, wind speed,
and relative humidity data. In contrast with the
previous model, these models are based on the con-
cept of temporal hours or relative part of the day.
We present an extension model with two different
practical variations that, as shown by comparison
with experimental data, are good predictors of
refractive-index structure parameter variations for
both daytime and nighttime midland coastal turbu-
lent atmospheres. In our experiments we measured
the refractive-index parameter Cn2 by means of
angle-of-arrival fluctuations of a received optical sig-
nal.
2. Experimental Sites, Instrumentation, and
Measurement Data
The experimental data were collected in experiments
carried out during a total period of 5 weeks in the
Negev Desert 关southern Israel, 34°57m, 29°20m; see Fig. 1. Location of experiments. 共a兲 The Negev experimental
Fig. 1共a兲兴 and the Golan Heights 关northern Israel, area: the 3.76-km propagation path 共A–B兲 and wind direction
35°36m, 32°43m; see Fig. 1共b兲兴. The line-of-sight between 90 and 100 deg. 共b兲 The Golan experimental area: the
propagation paths are nearly horizontal: a 3.76-km 2.47-km propagation path 共C–D兲 and wind direction between 260
path in the Negev link 共period of 3 weeks, October and 270 deg.
2001兲 and a 2.47-km path in the Golan link 共period of
2 weeks, May 2002兲. Specifically, the experimental
sites are bounded by mountains. The Golan exper- water surfaces. Temperatures, humidity, pressure,
imental area is a coastal zone of the Tiberias Lake and wind speeds were measured. The meteorologi-
共Sea of Galilee兲 between the Golan Heights and the cal sensors were installed on top of the receiver tow-
Galilee Mountains, and the Negev experimental area ers 共locations A and C in Fig. 1兲. In the simplest
is a coastal zone of the Eilat Gulf between the Negev form, temperature, pressure, and humidity sensors
and the Eilat Mountains. Our experimental data in were installed, connected to a computer, and trans-
the Negev was collected 5 km from the Eilat Gulf, and mitted measurement data. Meteorological condi-
experimental data in the Golan were collected 3 km tions were monitored by use of standard sensors for
from the Tiberias Lake, where the wind direction was wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, and
from water to continental areas. temperature. In addition, several wind speed and
The laser transmitter and receiver heights are the temperature meteorological sensors were installed at
same, approximately 2.5 m above ground. Both ex- approximately every 1000 m over propagation paths
perimental sites are of 20-m height compared with A–B and C–D. Wind speed and temperature data

10 July 2004 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 APPLIED OPTICS 4071

 Table 1. Experimental Instrument Data

Transmitter
Laser Nd:YAG
Wavelength 1.064 ␮m
Power 共average兲 2.5 W
Pulse rate 500 Hz
Pulse energy 5.0 mJ
Pulse width 30 ns
Laser output beam diameter 3 mm
Beam divergence 0.3 mrad
Receiver
Sensor InGaAs
Spectral range 0.9–1.7 ␮m
Responsivity at 1.064 ␮m 0.4 A兾W
Diameter of lens 10 cm
Focal length 1 to 5 m
Optics transmission 0.7

measured at the intervening sensors were similar to

those measured at A and C. The meteorological sen-
sor data were recorded every 10 min. The received
power was recorded every 30 s.
We propagated 5-mJ pulses of 30-ns duration from
a Nd:YAG laser from points B to A and from D to C.
The receiver 共points A and C兲 comprised a series of
eight InGaAs photosensors of 50-␮m horizontal di-
mension and 250-␮m vertical dimension each, with a
2.5-␮m horizontal pixel length in each sensor. The
sensor array was preceded by a 10-cm-diameter lens
of 1-m 共Negev experiments兲 or 5-m 共Golan experi-
ments兲 focal length that was used to focus the laser
beam onto the sensor array. The turbulence caused
angle-of-arrival fluctuations, from which the path- Fig. 3. Typical measurements taken over a 24-h period for Golan
coastal areas: 共a兲 solar irradiance, 共b兲 temperature, 共c兲 wind
averaged values of Cn2 were determined. The
speed, 共d兲 relative humidity. Hours apply to daylight saving time.
center-of-gravity location for each pulse had to be
measured. The measurement angular precision
was pixel width divided by focal length, which is 2.5 The calculations of Cn2 were based on measure-
␮rad for the Negev and 0.5 ␮rad for the Golan exper- ments of angle-of-arrival fluctuations along horizon-
iments, respectively. Computations for Cn2 were tal propagation paths, 3760 and 2470 m for the Negev
carried out in real time. The data of the laser and and Golan experiments, respectively. The variance
the receiver are summarized in Table 1. A simple in horizontal angle-of-arrival fluctuations is given
block diagram of the transmitter, receiver setup, and by17,27
data recording system is shown in Fig. 2.
The experimental areas of the Tiberias coast loca-
具␴ 2典 ⫽ 2.91C neq2LD ⫺1兾3, (1)
tions are completely covered by grass or low bushes
共Golan兲, whereas the Eilat coast is a rocky area with- where L is the path length, D is the aperture diam-
out vegetation 共Negev desert兲. The ground albedo eter, and Cneq2 is the path-integrated average value
and the solar irradiance were detected for both loca- of Cn2. From Eq. 共1兲 it can be seen that pixel size
tions by use of an albedometer and solar irradiation and the optics focal length limited angle-of-arrival
air temperature sensor, respectively. precision such that Cn2 measurement accuracy was
approximately ⫾2.7 ⫻ 10⫺16 and ⫾1 ⫻ 10⫺17 m⫺2兾3
for the Negev and Golan experiments, respectively.
Figures 3 and 4 show several typical measure-
ments of solar irradiance, air temperature, wind
speed, relative humidity, and refractive-index struc-
ture constant taken during 24-h on Golan and Negev
coastal areas, respectively. The dips at times of the
order of 13 and 11 h in the Golan and Negev solar
irradiance data, respectively, were caused by cloud
cover. During daytime, cloud cover limits surface
Fig. 2. Simple block diagram of the experimental setup. heat from the Sun, thus decreasing Cn2. Seasonal

4072 APPLIED OPTICS 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 10 July 2004

 A. Concept and Application of the Thiermann
共Monin–Obuhkov Similarity兲 Model
Refractive-index fluctuations are a consequence of air
temperature fluctuations that are characterized by
the temperature structure parameter CT2 共in K2
m⫺2兾3兲. Ignoring minor wavelength and humidity
dependences, Cn2 can be expressed in the following
form3,24:

冉
C n2 ⫽ 79 ⫻ 10 ⫺6
P
T2
冊 2

C T2, (2)

where P 共in millibars兲 is the air pressure and T 共in

degrees Kelvin兲 is the ambient temperature. Equa-
tion 共2兲 is valid in the visible and infrared wave bands
from approximately 0.5 to 10 ␮m. A model of atmo-
spheric turbulence developed by Thiermann and
Kohnle28 provides CT2; here Eq. 共2兲 is used to deter-
mine values of the refractive-index structure param-
eter. The vertical profiles of CT2 according to Ref. 31
are

C T2 ⫽ 4␤
T R2
共kz兲 2兾3 冋
1⫹7
z
LR
⫹ 20
z
LR
冉 冊册 2 1兾3

(3)

for the stable case 共z兾LR ⬎ 0兲, where air is warmer

than the ground, and

CT 2
⫽ 4␤
T R2
共kz兲 2兾3 冋
1⫺7
z
LR
⫹ 75
z
LR
冉 冊册 2 ⫺1兾3

(4)

for the unstable case 共z兾LR ⬍ 0兲, where air is colder

Fig. 4. Typical measurements taken over a 24-h period for Negev
coastal areas: 共a兲 solar irradiance, 共b兲 temperature, 共c兲 wind
speed, 共d兲 relative humidity. Hours apply to daylight saving time.
wind direction for both experimental locations 关Eilat
coast 共Negev兲 in October, and Tiberias coast 共Golan兲
in May兴 is constant from the sea and lake sources as
shown in Figs. 1共a兲 and 1共b兲.
3. Modeling of Atmospheric Optical Turbulence
For investigation of optical turbulence over land in
coastal areas we chose the following two semiempiri-
cal models: 共a兲 a land model, based on macroscale
than the ground. In Eqs. 共3兲 and 共4兲 ␤ is an empir-
ical constant set to 35 W兾m2, TR 共in degrees Kelvin兲
is the turbulent temperature scale, z 共in meters兲 is
the elevation, k 共dimensionless兲 is the Von Karman
constant taken to be k ⫽ 0.35, and LR 共in meters兲 is
the Monin–Obuhkov length.
Near the ground, the intensity of temperature fluc-
tuations depends on the type of ground cover, soil
humidity, ambient temperature, solar irradiation,
and wind speed. Thiermann’s model combines in-
formation on these environmental characteristics
and provides solutions for CT2 that are expressed in
terms of friction velocity uR 共in meters per second兲,
the turbulent temperature scale TR 共in degrees
Kelvin兲, and Monin–Obuhkov length LR 共in meters兲.
These quantities can be expressed as6

冋冉冊 册
meteorology7,9 and 共b兲 a marine model introduced in ⫺1
Ref. 24 according to the Thiermann–Kohnle concept28 zu
u R ⫽ uk ln ⫺ ␺共L R兲 , (5)
for an atmospheric surface layer over land, which is z0
based on the MOS theory.29,30 Both models provide
surface layer profiles of Cn2 by use of standard mete- Q0
TR ⫽ ⫺ , (6)
orological parameters as input parameters into the uR
problem. Finally, we discuss the comparison of data
predicted both experimentally and theoretically for u R2T
each model and give a new model, with two practical LR ⫽ , (7)
kgT R
variations, as an extension of the macroscale meteo-
rology model,7,9,17 for prediction of Cn2 in the turbu- where u 共in meters per second兲 is the wind velocity
lent atmosphere above the midland coastal zones, measured at height zu 共in meters兲 above the ground,
where this macroscale model has essential limita- z0 共in meters兲 is the roughness length of the ground
tions. surface, Q0 共in degrees Kelvin times meters per sec-

10 July 2004 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 APPLIED OPTICS 4073

ond兲 is the vertical turbulent kinematic heat flux, T
共in degrees Kelvin兲 is the air temperature, and g is
the acceleration of gravity 共9.81 m兾s2兲. Calculation
of uR depends on the form of ␺共LR兲, which is chosen
according to whether the conditions are stable or un-
stable. The parameter ␺共LR兲 is given by32
midity parameter ␣ was set at 1 for the Golan and 0
for the Negev experiments, respectively, since those
locations were covered completely by grass or low
bushes 共Golan兲, and rocky desert 共Negev兲, respec-
tively. We used the value of 0.5 ground albedo A for
Golan and 0.35 for Negev experiments, based on mea-

冦 冉 冊 冉 冊
1⫹y 1 ⫹ y2 ␲
2 ln ⫹ ln ⫺ 2 tan⫺1 y ⫹ , z u兾L R ⬍ 0, unstable
␺共L R兲 ⫽ 2 2 2 , (8)
⫺4.7z u兾L R, z u兾L R ⬎ 0, stable

where y ⫽ 共1 ⫺ 15zu兾LR兲1兾4. The kinematic heat surements made with an albedometer, which is spe-
flux differs during the daytime and the nighttime6,33: cifically used to measure grass-covered and rocky
surfaces.33
Q0 ⫽ For the Golan and Negev experiments the mea-

冋冉 冊 册 surements of Cn2 and model calculations are shown

冦
␩ ␣
1⫺ 共1 ⫺ A兲 R ⫺ ␤ daytime in Figs. 5 and 6, respectively. The irradiance, air
c p␳ 1 ⫹ ␥兾s temperature, and wind speed data were used as in-
,
cu 3 puts to the model. Agreement between the mea-
nighttime surements and the model was generally good during
1 ⫹ 共cc p␳兾H max兲u 3
the day, but not nearly so good at night.
(9)
Figures 7 and 8 show scatterplots of the modeled
where Cn2 versus their measured values by use of data col-
lected during the day and the night, respectively.
4 k 2T Linear regressions of the data showed generally good
c⫽⫺ . agreement between the modeled parameters and the
27 5gz u关ln共 z u兾z 0兲兴 2
measurements during daytime hours. Much less
In Eq. 共9兲, ␩ 共dimensionless兲 is an empirical constant data are available for comparison at night because
equal to 0.9,33 cp 共in joules兾kilogram兾degree Kelvin兲 model calculations are often unavailable because of
is the specific heat of air, ␳ 共in kilograms兾cubic meter兲 low wind speed 共especially for the Negev experi-
is the density of air, ␣ 共dimensionless兲 is a parameter ments兲. The main reason that the modeled turbu-
between 0 共dry areas without vegetation, desert, lence parameters are in poor agreement with the
rocky land兲 and 1 共grass-covered land兲 that repre-
sents the capability of humidity in the ground to
evaporate.33 Parameter ␥ is the ratio of the specific
heat of air at constant pressure to the latent heat of
water vapor, and s is the temperature derivative of
saturation-specific humidity. The quantity A 共di-
mensionless兲 is the surface albedo, and R 共in watts
per square meter兲 is the solar irradiance. The heat
flux Hmax depends on local vegetation, ground char-
acteristics, air humidity, and cloud cover and is be-
tween ⫺5 and ⫺100 W兾m3.
A multitude of physical quantities is required for
the calculations. The specific heat of air cp is taken
to be a constant equal to 1004.6 J兾kg兾K,34 the density
of dry air ␳, and the ratio ␥兾s are given in the follow-
ing formulas where temperature T is in degrees Cel-
sius33,34:

␳ ⫽ 1.286 ⫺ 0.00405T, (10)

␥兾s ⫽ 1.4631 ⫺ 0.0923T ⫹ 0.0027T 2 ⫺ 3.18

⫻ 10 ⫺5T ⫺3. (11)
The roughness length chosen was 0.02 m for both
experimental locations. The height of wind speed Fig. 5. Plots of Cn2 for Golan coastal areas: 共a兲 measured and 共b兲
sensors was 2.5 m above ground. The ground hu- modeled.

4074 APPLIED OPTICS 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 10 July 2004

Fig. 6. Plots of Cn2 for Negev coastal areas: 共a兲 measured and 共b兲
modeled.
measurements at night is because the nighttime heat
flux estimated by Eq. 共9兲 is not as accurate as that
estimated for daytime measurements. During the
Fig. 7. Scatterplots of modeled Cn2 versus measured Cn2 for day
data: 共a兲 Golan and 共b兲 Negev experiments; m is the slope of the
regression line and r is the Pearson error value.
Fig. 8. Scatterplots of modeled Cn2 versus measured Cn2 for night
data: 共a兲 Golan and 共b兲 Negev experiments, respectively.
day, heat flux is driven by solar irradiation, a param-
eter that can be easily measured. At night there is
no such dominant factor to which the heat flux can be
attributed and it is therefore difficult to estimate.
Another limitation of this model is its applicability for
wind speeds less than 2 m兾s. In these cases, the
model could not be used because of restrictions in the
applicability of the MOS theory under stable condi-
tions. Similar data and limitations were obtained in
other investigations.10
B. Concept and Application of Macroscale
Meteorological Models
In contrast with the previous model, the prediction of
turbulence values by macroscale meteorological mod-
els7,9 was carried out without a long calculation algo-
rithm and several additional data 共irradiance and
heat flux, for example兲. This model is based on the
concept of temporal hours or a relative part of the day
and is a fairly reliable way to predict Cn2. In units of
m⫺2兾3,
C n2 ⫽ 3.8 ⫻ 10 ⫺14W ⫹ f 共T兲 ⫹ f 共U兲 ⫹ f 共RH兲 ⫺ 5.3
⫻ 10 ⫺13, (12)
where
f 共T兲 ⫽ 2 ⫻ 10 ⫺15T, (13)
f 共U兲 ⫽ ⫺2.5 ⫻ 10 ⫺15U ⫹ 1.2 ⫻ 10 ⫺15U 2
⫺ 8.5 ⫻ 10 ⫺17U 3, (14)
10 July 2004 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 APPLIED OPTICS 4075
 f 共RH兲 ⫽ ⫺2.8 ⫻ 10 ⫺15RH ⫹ 2.9 ⫻ 10 ⫺17RH2
⫺ 1.1 ⫻ 10 ⫺19RH3, (15)
where W is the temporal hour weight well recognized
and described in Refs. 7 and 17, T is the air temper-
ature 共in degrees Kelvin兲, U is the wind speed 共in
meters per second兲, and RH is the relative humidity
共in percent兲. This model for Cn2 applies to approxi-
mately 15-m elevation. The dynamic temperature
range is from 9 to 35 °C for relative humidity from
14% to 92% and for wind speed from 0 to 10 m兾s.
For elevations other than 15 m 共for example, 2.5 m
in our experiments兲, the previously calculated value
of the refractive-index structure parameter can be
scaled according to various models of height profile of
Cn2. Although many models have been suggested,
experiments described in Ref. 35 for measurements
up to 100-m elevation support primarily the model of
Tatarski,27 which gives

C n2共h兲 ⫽ C n02h ⫺4兾3, (16)

where Cn02 is the refractive-index structure coeffi-
cient at the surface. This height profile would no Fig. 9. Comparison between measured and practical modeled av-
longer be valid at the boundary level where Cn2 sud- erage Cn2 values: 共a兲 Golan and 共b兲 Negev experiments, respec-
denly decreases rapidly as the elevation increases. tively.
Equations 共12兲–共15兲, which contain four kinds of
regression coefficient 共i.e., four terms兲, are based on
measurements taken in 1990 at Beer Sheva and val- roscale7 and theoretical24 based on the Thiermann–
idated by use of measurements at Sede Boqer 共both in Kohnle MOS theory application,6 follow from results
southern Israel兲.7,9 The first term in Eq. 共12兲 is a shown in Figs. 10共a兲 and 10共b兲, where Cn2 is described
coefficient of the temporal hour weight function that versus relative humidity and wind speed, respec-
contains information about solar radiation according tively, for both experimental locations. The
to the hour between sunrise and sunset 共must be
positive7兲. The second term in Eq. 共12兲 is the tem-
perature coefficient 关defined by Eq. 共13兲兴 and un-
doubtedly should be positive since a higher
temperature usually leads to a larger temperature
gradient and hence to stronger turbulence. The
third term characterizes the wind speed coefficients
关determined by Eq. 共14兲兴, which are expected to be
negative since wind causes air to mix and therefore
decreases the inhomogeneity of temperature and hu-
midity and, according to Refs. 36 and 37, also de-
creases Cn2. As the wind increases, so too does
dissipation of ground heat, thereby also decreasing
the temperature gradient and Cn2. The last term in
Eq. 共12兲 determines the relative humidity coeffi-
cients. High relative humidity is usually related to
low-temperature and low-humidity gradients,36,37 so
negative values are expected and are indeed obtained
关according to Eq. 共15兲兴. The model described by Eq.
共12兲 has been validated over both desert surfaces and
high-density vegetation surfaces.
Figures 9共a兲 and 9共b兲 present a comparison be-
tween measured and predicted magnitudes of the
refractive-index parameter Cn2 by means of this mac-
roscale model for the Golan and Negev experimental
data, respectively. It is shown that the macroscale
meteorological approach can be used successfully to
predict Cn2. Fig. 10. Comparison between measured and modeled Cn2 values
The limitations of these models, practical mac- versus 共a兲 relative humidity and 共b兲 wind speed data.

4076 APPLIED OPTICS 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 10 July 2004

Thiermann–Kohnle model results shown in Fig. 10
include daytime and sunset and sunrise results but
do not include the nighttime Cn2 values. The prac-
tical estimation model of Cn2 showed high correla-
tion 共up to 90%兲 with measured results over a wide
range of meteorological conditions, but not includ-
ing conditions in which large values of relative hu-
midity 共⬎92%兲 and high wind speeds 共⬎11 m兾s兲 are
involved. For these limited cases the MOS theory
is more reliable for the prediction of Cn2 values.
However, on the other hand, for wind speeds less
than 2 m兾s, as well as for nighttime, the Thiermann–
Kohnle model could not be used because of the ap-
plicability restrictions of the MOS theory under
stable conditions. Thus, in spite of limitations of
both models, they supplement each other for the
prediction of Cn2.
C. Extension of Macroscale Meteorological Models
The macroscale meteorological model predicts accu-
rate results for both nighttime and daytime measure-
ments, in which data such as soil type and vegetation
affect the temperature gradients and humidity mea-
surements that are already reflected in the model.
Strong wind has a positive effect on turbulence by
reducing it. Wind causes the atmosphere’s index of
refraction to be homogeneous and thus reduces the
gradient. However, winds stronger than approxi-
mately 15 knots 共⬎7.7 m兾s兲 do not reduce air circu-
lation but rather increase turbulence, in addition to
increasing the number of particles in the air 共such as
dust兲 and, as a result, increase the radiance attenu-
ation and scattering. Wind also contributes to ab-
sorption of radiation by aerosols and thus to
increased atmospheric heating and, therefore, to in-
creased Cn2.17
Generally speaking, as the relative humidity in-
creases, the degradation of the image resolution that
is due to the influence of turbulence becomes obvious.
The structure parameter of refractive index Cn2 ap-
pears in many formulas that characterize optical tur-
bulence. Basic formulas of Cn2 include the gradient
of the actual refractive index as a coefficient, which is
a direct function of temperature and relative humid-
ity gradients. Changes in humidity, especially in
low-humidity conditions, cause a random change in
refractive index. The two factors, temperature and
humidity, vary more in proximity to the ground.
Two versions of the macroscale practical meteoro-
logical model, presented separately for daytime and
nighttime measurements could extend this model
and include influences of both high wind speed and
high relative humidity, as well as the type of land
共albedo values A兲 and the temporal time hours. Ex-
perimentally, we found that this extended model is
valid for temperatures from 9 to 35 °C and a 2.5-m
above-ground height.
Equation 共17兲 shows the prediction for Cn2 over
land for midland coastal zones during the daytime
and is valid for wind speed values of 8 m兾s ⱕ U ⱕ 17
m兾s and a relative humidity of 30% ⱕ RH ⱕ 70%:
A
C n2 ⫽ 3.8 ⫻ 10 ⫺14W ⫹ 10 ⫺4 ⫹ f 共U兲
exp关T兴
⫹ f 共RH兲 ⫺ 4.45 ⫻ 10 ⫺14, (17)
where for rocky land 共rocky desert兲 the statistically
based functions are
f 共U兲 ⫽ 8 ⫻ 10 ⫺16U ⫺ 4 ⫻ 10 ⫺18U 2, (18)
f 共RH兲 ⫽ ⫺8 ⫻ 10 ⫺16RH ⫹ 5 ⫻ 10 ⫺18RH2;
(19)
for vegetation covered land the functions are
f 共U兲 ⫽ 2.58 ⫻ 10 ⫺14U, (20)
f 共RH兲 ⫽ ⫺6.797 ⫻ 10 ⫺15RH, (21)
where W is the temporal hour weight7,17 and A is the
value of the ground albedo. We used 0.5 for A for the
Golan and 0.35 for the Negev experiments, based on
measurements made with an albedometer. These
are typical values for vegetation covered and rocky
lands.33 T is the air temperature 共in degrees Cel-
sius兲, U is the wind speed 共in meters per second兲, and
RH is the relative humidity 共in percent兲.
During the nighttime, prediction of the turbulence
parameter over land is shown by Eq. 共22兲, which is
valid for a wind speed of 5 m兾s ⱕ U ⱕ 10 m兾s and
high values of relative humidity, 92% ⱕ RH ⱕ 100%.
This formula is acceptable just for the vegetation
covered midland coastal region 共Golan coastal zone兲,
because, during the Negev experiment, we did not
obtain data fit for the above cases of relative humidity
and wind speed parameters. Instead we found
C n2 ⫽ f 共T兲 ⫹ f 共U兲 ⫹ f 共RH兲 ⫺ 1.9 ⫻ 10 ⫺14,
(22)
where
f 共T兲 ⫽ 3 ⫻ 10 ⫺17T, (23)
f 共U兲 ⫽ 1.2 ⫻ 10 ⫺14U, (24)
f 共RH兲 ⫽ ⫺7.5 ⫻ 10 ⫺16RH. (25)
This last submodel extends the meteorological prac-
tical model without using the temporal hour and
ground albedo parameters because, at nighttime, for
high relative humidity and wind speed values, these
parameters do not play a major role.
A graphic comparison between measured and mod-
eled data, based on practical meteorological submod-
els 关Eqs. 共17兲 and 共22兲兴 is presented in Fig. 11.
Figure 11共a兲 shows the normalized measured and
predicted data of Cn2 versus high relative humidity
values. In this case, the limitation of the original
macroscale practical model can be clearly seen. The
extended submodel suggested here predicts the tur-
bulence parameter with high correlation 共up to 90%兲
10 July 2004 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 APPLIED OPTICS 4077

Fig. 11. Comparison between measured and modeled Cn2 values
versus 共a兲 relative humidity data for the Golan coastal zone, nor-
malized to U ⫽ 8 m兾s and T ⫽ 20 °C, and 共b兲 wind speed data for
both the Negev and the Golan coastal zones, normalized to 40%
relative humidity and T ⫽ 20 °C.
with measured results over a selected range of mete-
orological conditions. The same good correlation be-
tween the measured and the theoretical prediction
data of Cn2 variations for high wind speed values can
be clearly seen from the results presented in Fig.
11共b兲.
We note that the modified model presented here
with two variants for daytime and nighttime over the
coastal zone atmosphere yields excellent results for
the specific coastal experimental sites. Further-
more, Eqs. 共17兲 and 共22兲 are both mathematically
simple and can be used for further computations for
various meteorological situations. In addition, we
tested these submodels by use of the specific charac-
teristics of the experimental sites, from which infor-
mation about the albedo parameter was created.
4. Conclusions
We have described and experimentally tested a sim-
ple practical meteorological model 共with two variants
for daytime and nighttime periods兲 for refractive-
index structure parameter Cn2. Our model extends
the high values of wind speed and relative humidity
in the turbulent atmosphere over land in coastal
zones, based on a macroscale meteorological model7,17
as well as on the model developed in Ref. 24 according
to the Thiermann–Kohnle concept6 based on the
MOS theory.29,30
Values of the Cn2 parameter calculated by use of all
three models were compared with the measurement
4078 APPLIED OPTICS 兾 Vol. 43, No. 20 兾 10 July 2004
data. We have shown that the macroscale meteoro-
logical approach7,17 can be used successfully to pre-
dict values of atmospheric turbulence. This
practical model of Cn2 variations shows high correla-
tion 共up to 90%兲 with measured results over a wide
range of meteorological conditions, except when large
values of relative humidity 共⬎92%兲 and high wind
speeds 共⬎11 m兾s兲 occur.
A modified practical meteorological model, which
covers both daytime and nighttime conditions and is
based on experimental data, extends the existing
macroscale model for these specific weather condi-
tions as a good predictor 共with a high degree of cor-
relation, up to 90%兲 of the refractive structure of
over-the-land atmospheric turbulence. In addition,
we found that predictions of the Thiermann–Kohnle
model are in good agreement with the measured val-
ues during unstable daytime conditions. Poor
agreement was obtained between the Thiermann–
Kohnle model and the nighttime experimental data.
Also, for wind speeds less than 2 m兾s, which often
occurred at night, the model could not be used be-
cause of applicability restrictions of the MOS theory
under stable conditions.
In spite of these limitations, values of Cn2 calcu-
lated with the Thiermann–Kohnle model for daytime
conditions and with the practical meteorological mod-
els for both nighttime and daytime conditions, are
accurate enough to provide useful estimates of optical
turbulence effects on electro-optic or laser systems
over-the-land coastal zones.
Validity of all the models was examined in different
geographic areas with different surface cover. We
examined a complete desert location in the Eilat 共Ne-
gev兲 coastal zone to an intensely vegetative surface in
the Tiberias 共Golan兲 coastal zone. The measure-
ments were in good agreement with the predictions
from the modified practical meteorological model, for
both the daytime according to Eq. 共17兲 and the night-
time according to Eq. 共22兲. Knowledge of height pro-
files for the Cn2 parameter in the boundary layer by
Tatarskii27 can be used to translate this prediction to
other elevations.
At this stage of our investigations, however, the
extension of the practical macroscale meteorological
model is shown to be quite relevant only for horizon-
tal atmospheric optical paths. Despite this fact and
that the experiments were carried out for only two
midland coastal zones, we suggest that the proposed
model, as an extension of the macroscale meteorolog-
ical model, can be successfully used for the same
coastal zones as well as for typical marine areas.
Our proposed model broadens the models introduced
in Refs. 7 and 17 and in Refs. 6, 24, 29, and 30 for both
marine 共near the sea兲 and land coastal atmospheric
environments, respectively, which can be verified
only by experimentation in other areas.
The authors are grateful to V. Theirmann for his
assistance with regard to details of his model and to
engineers I. R. G. Wiener and J. Shapira for setting
up the experiments and their helpful work during the
turbulence measurements.
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