LIDAR systems operating in the presence of oceanic turbulence

Oceanic turbulence may be detrimental for optical signals in short-link communication and sensing systems, and, in particular, LIDARs. To characterize light propagation for LIDARs we first establish 4 × 4 matrix framework applicable for general ABCD optical systems, a wide variety of optical waves, including partially coherent and partially polarized, and a variety of targets. We then adopt this approach for situations in which a target embedded in the turbulent oceanic layer is to be sensed by a bi-static LIDAR. Under some conditions the monostatic transmission links may also exhibit the Enhanced BackScatter (EBS) effect, due to phase conjugation of incident and return waves. We will brie y discuss the appearance of the EBS in the oceanic turbulence. Our treatment of the oceanic fluctuations is based on the well-known temperature-salinity based power spectrum of the refractive-index and the Huygens-Fresnel integral propagation method.