Unified sensor for atmospheric turbulence and refractivity characterization

MZA partnered with the Michigan Technological University (MTU) proposes development and testing of key components for our unified Atmospheric Refractivity and Turbulence Sensor (ARTS.) Software upgrades will be made to MZA’s DELTA-Sky sensor to enable atmospheric refraction measurements in addition to existing turbulence profiling. The illuminator assembly to implement the ARTS probe laser variations required for target-in-the-loop refraction and turbulence measurements will be designed, integrated, and tested in the laboratory using hardware emulation of turbulence and refraction for ground-to-space propagation paths. Multi-frame blind deconvolution (MFBD) image processing codes operating in real-time will be transitioned to enhance turbulence and refraction measurements with our existing turbulence sensors. The utility of real-time MFBD to turbulence and refraction measurements will be quantified in strong turbulence conditions. These advancements will undergo comprehensive field testing. Enhanced DELTA-Sky capability will be tested in extended ground-to-space observations to gather statistics of turbulence and refraction states compared to volumetric atmospheric modeling. We will make point-to-point measurements of turbulence and refraction on paths less than 10 km using our existing Path-Resolved Optical Profiling System (PROPS). MTU field tests with the ARTS illuminator will quantify refraction and turbulence measurements through validation with MZA’s existing turbulence sensors.