Wave and ray optics simulation studies of long-exposure incoherent imaging in atmospheric turbulence

This study provides both qualitative and quantitative comparisons of wave and ray optics simulations for long-exposure incoherent imaging in weak to strong atmospheric turbulence. The ray tracing image shows a recognizable approximation to the wave optics results even in the saturation regime, but it is advantageous in fast computational speed and sampling unconstraint. The analytic expression of the ray-based Fried parameter is also proposed for the first time to predict the spatial-resolution effects of turbulence on imaging and beam propagation of geometric optics, offering quantitative guidance for the application of ray optics to approximate the wave optics results.