Determining seeing conditions of a horizontal turbulent optical path with video image analysis

The turbulent effects from the Earth’s atmosphere degrade the performance of any optical system within it. There have been numerous studies in the effects of atmospheric turbulence on an imaging system that is pointed vertically to the sky looking at distant objects and the seeing conditions associated with it. We investigate the calculation of the seeing conditions with an imaging system pointed horizontally in terrestrial and maritime environments. We have acquired video data of different horizontal paths in the infrared wavelengths and performed data analysis that will be the basis of new characterizations and modeling of horizontal path atmospheric turbulence.