Influence of oceanic turbulence on propagation characteristics of Gaussian array beams

Based on the power spectrum of oceanic turbulence proposed by Nikishov, the influence of oceanic optical turbulence on propagation of Gaussian array beams is studied in detail by using five propagation characteristic parameters (i.e., mean-squared beam width, Rayleigh range, turbulence distance, power in the bucket and Strehl ratio). It is shown that the influence of oceanic optical turbulence on propagation of laser beams becomes stronger as τ (ratio of temperature to salinity contribution to the refractive index spectrum) and χT (rate of dissipation of mean-squared temperature) increase and ɛ (rate of dissipation of kinetic energy per unit mass of fluid) decreases, which is in agreement with the further analysis of oceanic turbulence shown in this paper. Furthermore, it is concluded that propagation of laser beams is more affected by oceanic optical turbulence in abyssal region than that in active region or oceanic surface.