On the saturation of the refractive index structure function. I - Enhanced hopes for long baseline optical interferometry

Abstract

The Kolomogorov- Obukhov law for the refractive index structure function is shown to be only an approximation valid in the inertial sub range of turbulence. The inclusion of saturation effects for larger separations leads to an asymptotically constant variance for the relative phase fluctuations for large baselines,. This result enhances the possibilities for very long baseline optical interferometry.