Imaging deviation through non-uniform flow fields around high-speed flying vehicles

The non-uniform flow field around high-speed flying vehicle “bends” the ray and imposes a deviation at the end of the propagation path. This imaging deviation is a kind of aero-optic effect. In this paper, we catalog the factors that influence the deviation into two classes: the vehicle-related factors and the flowfield-related factors. Flow density computation and density–refractive index conversion are discussed. A backward ray-tracing scheme is proposed. The deviations, the propagation path distances in the non-uniform flow field, and the density distributions along propagation paths for two different flying cases are computed. Three flowfield-related factors should be considered in order to reduce the deviation: the propagation path distance in the non-uniform flow field, which should be as short as possible; the angle of incidence at the freestream boundary, which should be as small as possible; and the density distribution along propagation path in the non-uniform flow field, which should be as flat as possible.