Log-amplitude variance for a Gaussian-beam wave propagating through non-Kolmogorov turbulence

In the past decades, both the increasing experimental evidences and some results of theoretical investigation on non-Kolmogorov turbulence have been reported. This has prompted the study of optical propagation in non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence. In this paper, using a non-Kolmogorov power spectrum which owns a generalized power law instead of standard Kolmogorov power law value 11/3 and a generalized amplitude factor instead of constant value 0.033, the log-amplitude variances for a Gaussian-beam wave are derived in the weak-fluctuation regime for a horizonal path. The analytic expressions are obtained and then used to analyze the effect of spectral power-law variations on the log-amplitude fluctuations of Gaussian-beam wave. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America