Influence of moderate-to-strong anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence on intensity fluctuations of a Gaussian-Schell model beam in marine atmosphere

The scintillation index (SI) of a Gaussian-Schell model (GSM) beam in a moderate-to-strong anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulent atmosphere is developed based on the extended Rytov theory. The on-axis SI in a marine atmosphere is higher than that in a terrestrial atmosphere, but the off-axis SI exhibits the opposite trend. The on-axis SI first increases and then begins to decrease and saturate as the turbulence strength increases. Turbulence inner and outer scales have different effects on the on-axis SI in different turbulent fluctuation regions. The anisotropy characteristic of atmospheric turbulence leads to the decline in the on-axis SI, and the rise in the off-axis SI. The on-axis SI can be lowered by increasing the anisotropy of turbulence, wavelength, and source partial coherence before entering the saturation attenuation region. The developed model may be useful for evaluating ship-to-ship/shore free-space optical communication system performance.