Adaptive-optic system requirements to mitigate aero-optical aberrations as a function of viewing angle

A comparison between the spatial and temporal requirements for designing adaptive-optic correction systems for aero-optical turbulence over the pupil of a turret on the side of an airborne platform is presented. These systems are necessary to mitigate the deleterious aero-optic effects on an optical beam and to reopen the field of regard. The derived technique makes use of the two-dimensional proper orthogonal decomposition to characterize the spatial and temporal frequencies of in-flight measured data from the Airborne Aero-Optics Laboratory. For this study, 13 different viewing angles, which represent various flow topologies around the airborne turret, were chosen. The paper concludes with a discussion that points out the usefulness of the derived technique in characterizing the aero-optical disturbances of various aero-optical environments at different viewing angles and different turret configurations. (C) 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)