Characterization of the marine atmosphere for free-space optical communication

The Chesapeake Bay Detachment of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL-CBD) provides an ideal environment for characterizing the effects of the marine atmosphere on free space optical communication links. The site has recently been converted to an operational 10 mile (16.2 km) one-way test range to collect information on propagation statistics in a variety of atmospheric conditions. The results presented here compare the contributions of thermal gradients across the bay to the variations in intensity scintillations across the bay.