Estimating optical turbulence using the PAMELA model

We present an optical turbulence model that has evolved from the PAMELA model. After a preliminary report in SPIE 2003 it became apparent that more data was needed to refine this adaptive model. This led us to take twelve months of over-land data (~100 meters pathlength) at the Chesapeake Bay Detachment of the Naval Research Lab. We present data throughout the year with varying environments with comparison with the model prediction. Our recent modification includes segmenting the windspeed to 3 sections, morning, afternoon, and night for better fitting. This is an attempt to incorporate variable wind speed into the model which is known to contribute significantly to the turbulence in the atmosphere. In addition, we present preliminary results from the over-the-bay data (10 km pathlength).