Dr. Andreas Muschinski-March 13 Colloquium

Optical propagation through the turbulent and non-turbulent atmosphere

The propagation of light through the atmosphere is affected by refraction, diffraction, scatter, and absorption.  These processes are important for the understanding, design, operation, and optimization of various kinds of optical systems, including optical scintillometers, lidars, optical imaging systems used in astronomy and the geosciences, navigation and surveillance systems, and free-space optical communication systems.  This presentation gives an overview of various observational, theoretical, and computational aspects of the line-of-sight propagation of light through the turbulent and non-turbulent, clear atmosphere.  We will present and discuss various passive optical remote sensing techniques to probe winds, waves, and turbulence in the atmosphere.

Dr. Muschinski received his Diplom-Physiker degree (M.S. in physics) from the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany in 1990. His Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D. in natural sciences) and Habilitation degrees in meteorology are from the University of Hannover, Germany (1992 and 1998, respectively). From 1998 through 2004 he was a CIRES Research Scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder and was affiliated with the NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory.  From 2004 through 2011, he taught at the ECE Dept. of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA (2007: Jerome M. Paros Endowed Professor in Measurement Sciences; 2008: full professor).  Since 2011, he has been a Senior Research Scientist at the Boulder office of NorthWest Research Associates.  During the last 28 years, he has conducted research on atmospheric turbulence and atmospheric wave propagation.