Optics and Photonics Society of Iran

In this paper phase structure function, PSF, of light beam propagating through indoor convective air turbulence has been investigated. Accordingly for having controlled conditions, the convective air turbulence similar to atmospheric mode was produced using electrical heater in the lab. The light's Wave front was reconstructed using moiré based wave front sensor at the end of the turbulence path. Using the wave front sensor data, the phase structure function of the light was calculated in range of 0-18cm in two directions, perpendicular to the light beam path. Changing the heater's temperature, the effect of different temperature gradients on the PSF was studied. Experimental results show that the laboratory convective air turbulence is no isotropic. In addition, the Von Karman model has maximum compatibility with the experimental data of phase structure function in range of 0-10 cm.