ABSTRACT
There has been a renewed interest in wave propagation through random media. In part, this is a consequence of renewed interest in using optical waves for applications in laser communications (lasercom), laser radar, remote sensing, ranging, and laser tracking, among others. Unfortunately, the advantages in using shorter wavelengths for applications like these are offset somewhat by the deleterious effects of the random medium on the optical wave, including scintillation. Below we briefly review the subject of scintillation of optical waves, which has been theoretically and experimentally studied since the 1960s.
