Point target extinction and scintillation as function of range at LAPTEX, Crete

Arie N. de Jong; Hans Winkel

doi:10.1117/12.279021

23 September 1997 Point target extinction and scintillation as function of range at LAPTEX, Crete

Arie N. de Jong, Hans Winkel

Proceedings Volume 3125, Propagation and Imaging through the Atmosphere; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.279021
Event: Optical Science, Engineering and Instrumentation '97, 1997, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The range performance of IRST sensors is partly determined by the propagation of the atmosphere. For low altitude targets the boundary layer of the atmosphere introduces a variety of effects due to inhomogeneities, for which model predictions are not yet well validated. For this reason NATO Research Study Group 5 on "Maritime Infrared Target and Background Signatures, Measurement and Characterization" organized the Low Altitude Point Target EXperiment (LAPTEX) in the Mediterranean Sea at the NATO-FORACS site at Crete (Greece) from 8-26 July 1996. In this experiment a wide beam point source was mounted on a small ship, sailing out and in along a straight line to the detecting sensors. The same ship was equipped with a comprehensive set of meteorological instrumentation. By determination of the signal decrease with range, propagation models such as LOWTRAN7 can be validated. This concerns the transmission, assuming that the source radiant intensity is known. Of similar importance is the increase of scintillation with range, predicted by other models. In this paper the setup of the LAPTEX trial is described and the results of some examples of the extinction and scintillation experiments are presented. It is concluded that for the subtropical conditions like at Crete, the LOWTRAN extinction predictions correspond surprisingly well with the measurements. The agreement between the predicted and measured scintillation appears to be less good.

Citation Download Citation

Arie N. de Jong and Hans Winkel "Point target extinction and scintillation as function of range at LAPTEX, Crete", Proc. SPIE 3125, Propagation and Imaging through the Atmosphere, (23 September 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.279021

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