Optical beam distortions induced by a shock wave

The mean intensity and the displacement from the initially given propagation direction of the optical beam passed through the shock wave have been calculated. It has been shown that the spatial inhomogeneity of the refractive index of air caused by the shock wave arising in supersonic flow flowing a conical body can cause the focusing of the beam and strong anisotropic distortions of the intensity distribution in its cross section. The angular displacement of the optical beam from the initially given propagation direction owing to the shock wave depends only on the height above the Earth's surface at which the shock wave is formed. As the height increases, the influence of the shock wave on the optical beam propagating through it decreases.