Study of anisotropy of convective optical underwater turbulence and the effect of the mean water temperature in the presence of a varying temperature gradient on it

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, the anisotropy of optical convective underwater turbulence is investigated in terms of the variance of angle of arrival (AOA) fluctuations of a narrow laser beam propagating through it in different sections of the medium. The collimated laser beam with a wavelength 532 nm and a diameter 1 cm, which passes through a convective underwater turbulence. The turbulence is generated in a water tank with dimensions of 20 cm × 36 cm × 20 cm, which is installed on a flat surface electrical heater. During the experiments, the mean water temperature (MWT) can be changed from room temperature to 34 ∘C by increasing the heater temperature. The use of the heater also generates a temperature gradient in the medium. The laser beam propagates along a horizontal path with a length of 20 cm inside the tank at different altitudes from the heater source, as well as at different distances from one of the side walls of the turbulent medium. After passing the laser beam through the turbulent medium, the fluctuations of the AOA components in the vertical and horizontal directions are measured. From the time series of the measured AOA fluctuations, their variances are determined. The anisotropy of the medium is investigated by comparing the variance of AOA components measured in the vertical and horizontal directions. We show that the variances of both of vertical and horizontal components of the AOA fluctuations are increased with the MWT, and they are saturated at higher MWTs. In addition, different anisotropic behaviors are observed for the variances of the measured AOA fluctuations at the vicinity of the lateral wall and upper surface of the water. At the vicinity of the lateral wall the variances of the AOA fluctuations in the horizontal component are larger, but at the vicinity of the upper surface the variances of the AOA fluctuations in the vertical component are dominant. This behavior may be caused by the change of the convection motion direction in the turbulent fluid.