Development of a standard maritime Cn2 model using satellite measurements

• DOI: 10.1364/ao.557266
• Publication Date: 2025-02-28T13:01:30Z
• Authors: Gregory Anderson; Steven Fiorino; David Meier

The Hufnagel–Valley (H–V) 5/7 model was developed to characterize optical turbulence (C n 2) as it varies with height over land. While the H–V 5/7 model is not meant to predict precise values, observations over land will likely be in a range close to the model’s prediction. H–V 5/7 is not suitable for modeling turbulence over the ocean, and to date, no standard ocean profiles have been developed. The primary objective of this research is to develop a H–V-like standard maritime model of optical turbulence based on oceanic conditions from the surface layer up to the stratosphere. Maritime temperature climatology data are obtained from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. Three maritime profiles are proposed as alternatives to the H–V 5/7 profile. Results show that maritime profiles generally do not exhibit the surface spike in turbulence seen in H–V 5/7. Additionally, a strong latitudinal variation in the height of the C n 2 inflection associated with the tropopause is observed, motivating the need for separate models for polar and tropic regions.