Image transfer through cirrus clouds. I. Ray trace analysis and wave-front reconstruction.

A new technique for modeling image transfer through cirrus clouds is presented. The technique uses a ray trace to model beam propagation through a three-dimensional volume of polydisperse, hexagonal ice crystals. Beyond the cloud, the technique makes use of standard Huygens-Fresnel propagation methods. At the air-cloud interface, each wave front is resolved into a ray distribution for input to the ray trace software. Similarly, a wave front is reconstructed from the output ray distribution at the cloud-air interface. Simulation output from the ray trace program is presented and the modulation transfer function for stars imaged through cirrus clouds of varying depths is discussed.

Active Imaging through Cirrus Clouds.

The presence of clouds of ice particles in the uplink and downlink path of an illumination beam can severely impede the performance of an active imaging system. Depending on the optical depth of the cloud, i.e., its density and depth, the beam can be completely scattered and extinguished, or the beam can pass through the cloud with some fraction attenuated, scattered, and depolarized. In particular, subvisual cirrus clouds, i.e., high, thin cirrus clouds that cannot be observed from the ground, can affect the properties and alignment of both uplink and downlink beams. This paper discusses the potential for active imaging in the presence of cirrus clouds. We document field data results from an active imaging experiment conducted several years ago, which the authors believe to show the effects of cirrus clouds on an active imaging system. To verify these conclusions, we include the results of a simulation of the interaction of a coherent illumination scheme with a cirrus cloud.