Closed-form approximations for the angle-of-arrival variance of plane and spherical waves propagating through homogeneous and isotropic turbulence.

The calculation of the aperture-averaged angle-of-arrival variance, observed with a telescope with a circular aperture, of a plane or spherical wave propagating through homogeneous and isotropic turbulence is one of the classical problems in the theory of wave propagation through random media. We present and discuss approximate closed-form solutions on the basis of the Rytov approximation. For both plane and spherical waves, the accuracy of the approximations is better than 0.25% for all ratios of aperture diameter and Fresnel length.