Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Turbulence by Means of a Fast Optical Method: A Comparison with Simultaneous In Situ Measurements

Abstract

In this paper we describe an experiment in which we measure the energy of the atmospheric turbulence up to an altitude of 20 000 m. The measurements have been performed simultaneously by a remote optical system attached to an astronomical telescope and by a free flying balloon-borne radiosonde carrying thermal sensors for detecting the in situ microturbulence. The consistency of the results shows that the ground based optical equipment for remote testing of atmospheric turbulence is a reliable device for a fast, continuous measurement of vertical profiles of turbulence.