Atmospheric Effects upon Laser Eye Safety. Part 1

Abstract

.. ABSTRACTThe results of cwo laser scintillation'experiments in the atmosphere are presented, as is a revised eye-hazard evaluation procedure incorporating these results. The objective of the research is to determine the influence of atmospheric thermal turbulence on laser eye safety.The cxpertmental work on a 3.5-km near-ground horizontal propagation path was designed to determine the effect of range upon laser scintillation magnitude, represented by the log intensity standard deviation (a).It was found that for very short ranges and low thermal turbulence, the measured values (a ) agree well with theory (a t). However, for longer The second experiment was an attempt to confirm that scintillation saturation occurs on a slant path between a ground-based laser and a receiver on an orbiting aircraft. Some evidence of saturation was found, but the effect was not clearly established because of the limited ranges necessitated by the laser used.