Beam wander of a collimated beam: comparing theory and experiment

In this paper we present experimental beam wander measurements and compare them with theory developed from the Kolmogorov model for the atmosphere. Data from a collimated beam over a 1km horizontal terrestrial path were recorded with a high-speed camera. Several sets of image data were taken before, during, and after the quiescent period of the atmosphere in June 2006. The propagation path was instrumented with a commercial scintillometer to measure the Cn 2 and a weather station to monitor temperature and wind velocity. The data were analyzed for centroid movement and hot spot movement.