AFRL Develops Advanced Techniques for Electromagnetic Propagation Published Jan. 9, 2012 By Ms. Traci Medrano, AFRL/RD Directed Energy KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico -- The Air Force is interested in increasingly more complex optical systems, which often include optical propagation through the turbulent atmosphere followed by sensing and compensating with complex devices. The Air Force Research Laboratory, through a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract, developed a simulation tool called WaveProp. Advanced modeling techniques were developed for imaging extended objects, accurately representing disturbance effects such as turbulence and thermal blooming, and dealing with simulaton effects such as propagation aliasing. The tool is used to model lasercom systems, weapons systems, laser guide star systems and phase array systems, among others. With this tool the Air Force can test new designs in simulation, instead of building trial designs at much greater expense. AFRL partnered with Optical Sciences Company of Anaheim, Calif., to develop the WaveProp technology. A key component of the development is extensibility, which enables non-expert users to not only use existing classes but to enhance or develop new classes. WaveProp is being used at AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate's Starfire Optical Range, which houses its 3.5-meter telescope, and its Maui site, which houses the 3.6-meter telescope. The Air Force Institute of Technology has also used WaveProp in its graduate courses on wave optics simulation and several graduate students have used WaveProp in their dissertation research.