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Correlation of optical propagation near the sea surface with bulk meteorological measurements

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Abstract

Observations of optical propagation and bulk meteorological measurements were made from a tower located off the entrance to Narragansett Bay, RI. Measurements of air and sea temperatures, wind speed, and dew point were used to derive mean values ofC n 2. Then an optical propagation formulation employingC n 2 (height) was used to predict mean values of the spreading of a narrow target line at ranges up to 5 km. Predicted line widths were compared with measured ones. Under conditions of strong instability, mean line-width values agreed to within about ±25%. Under neutral and stable conditions, observations were limited by instrumentation, but predicted and mean measured line-widths agreed within a factor of two.

Ratios were formed ofC n 2 values obtained from line-width measurements to corresponding values derived from bulk meteorological measurements under unstable atmospheric conditions. The geometric mean of the set of ratios was 0.94.

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  1. Submarine Electromagnetic Systems Department, Naval Underwater Systems Center, 06320, New London, CT, USA

    F. Replogle Jr.

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  1. F. Replogle Jr.
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Replogle, F. Correlation of optical propagation near the sea surface with bulk meteorological measurements. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 25, 327–343 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02041152

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02041152

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