Low altitude horizontal scintillation measurements of atmospheric turbulence over the sea: Experimental results

We present the current status and developments of a horizontal beam path laser propagation experiment over the sea performed off the coast of Puerto Rico. Atmospheric turbulence effects have been measured by a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor with a Dalsa CCD camera and by a scintillometer from Optical Scientific, Inc* (OSI). We present preliminary scintillation measurements for an approximate period of two days from the two optical systems during the month of July 2005, also suggestions for improvement in the software, data acquisition protocol and hardware are presented.