Temporal averaging of atmospheric turbulence-induced optical scintillation

Based on the Rytov approximation we have developed for weak scintillation conditions a general expression for the temporal averaged variance of irradiance. The present analysis provides, for what we believe is the first time, a firm theoretical basis for the often-observed reduction of irradiance fluctuations of an optical beam due to atmospheric turbulence. Accurate elementary analytic approximations are presented here for plane, spherical and beam waves for predicting the averaging times required to obtain an arbitrary value of the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean of an optical beam propagating through an arbitrary path in the atmosphere. In particular, a novel application of differential absorption measurement for the purpose of measuring column-integrated concentrations of various so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) atmospheric components is considered where the results of our analysis indicates that relatively short averaging times, on the order of a few seconds, are required to reduce the irradiance fluctuations to a value precise enough for GHG measurements of value to climate related studies.