Analyzing the Effects of a Basin on Atmospheric Environment Relevant to Optical Turbulence

Abstract

The performance of adaptive optics (AO) systems are highly dependent upon optical turbulence. Thus, it is necessary to have the appropriate knowledge of the spatiotemporal characteristics of optical turbulence strength. In this paper, the spatiotemporal distribution of meteorological parameters (wind and temperature) and optical turbulence parameters (turbulence strength, temperature gradient, and wind shear) derived from pulsed coherent Doppler lidar, a microwave radiometer, and ERA5 reanalysis data are investigated, and the results show that the meteorological parameters in a basin develop independently, while the external influence will increase above the basin. By fitting radiosonde data, an existing parameterized model was improved to be more in line with the evolutionary properties of local optical turbulence. The development of temperature gradient and wind shear is influenced by the basin, which ultimately leads to an optical turbulence vertical profile that is discrepant at different altitude layers. The results indicate that temperature gradient plays a dominant role in turbulence generation below 2 km, and wind shear increases its impact significantly above 2 km. Furthermore, the optical turbulence parameters (outer scale, turbulence diffusion coefficient, and turbulence energy dissipation rate) and optical turbulence strength have good consistency, which might be derived from the combined effect of terrain and complex environment. Finally, the integrated parameters for astronomy and optical telecommunication were derived from optical turbulence strength profiles. An appropriate knowledge of optical turbulence is essential for improving the performance of adaptive optics systems and astronomical site selection.