Review and application of atmospheric turbulence profile models for satellite-ground optical links

Atmospheric turbulence profile models aim at estimating the vertical profile of the refractive index structure constant C2n which is a measure of the strength of the turbulence. Strong temperature gradients and wind shears are responsible for the stochastic nature of the refractive index field in the atmosphere, causing rapid fluctuations of the phase and amplitude of the optical wavefront propagating. Measurement campaigns are expensive and sometimes impractical, making estimation a cheaper and more convenient alternative. A large number of models exist in the literature on various levels of complexity, this master thesis investigates three models. Two of them rely on the statistical treatment of the turbulence according to Kolmogorov's theory while the third is an empirical model based of the correlation existing between potential temperature structure constant and the buoyancy and wind shear. The performances of the three models are assessed thanks to the T-REX measurement campaign which provided vertical profiles of standard atmospheric parameters such as temperature and wind speed as well as thermosonde measurements of the C2n.