Several papers have treated the implementation of adaptive optics systems in astronomical imaging from the ground, for the correction of wavefronts degraded by the atmosphere. The case of imaging at horizontal paths, parallel to the ground, has not been as thoroughly discussed. It is shown here that when the statistics of the turbulence are homogeneous along the path, the distortions of the wavefronts, originating from different points in the field of view, are uncorrelated. Thus, the adaptive optics compensate the wavefront degradation only for a very small area in the field of view, while increasing the degradation outside of this area. It is concluded, that for terrestrial reconnaissance systems, adaptive optics can not give a solution for the image degradation caused by atmospheric turbulence, in a practical field of view.
展开▼
