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A Diffraction-Based Model Of Anisoplanatism Effects In Adaptive Optic Systems, Steven E. Troxel

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a new model for computing the angle dependent performance measures of an adaptive-optics system. By incorporating diffraction caused by the index-of-refraction variations of the atmosphere, the phase and amplitude fluctuations of the propagating wave are computed. New theory is presented, that uses the diffraction-based propagation model to yield optical transfer function (OTF) expressions that are more accurate as compared to current theory that neglects diffraction. An evaluation method for calculating the OTF is presented that utilizes a layered atmospheric model and normalized OTF expressions. The diffraction model is also used to present the first OTF signal-to-noise ratio …