The Naval Research Laboratory has developed a new method for generating atmospheric turbulence and a testbed that simulates its aberrations far more inexpensively and with greater fidelity using a Liquid Crystal (LC) Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) than many other methods. This system allows the simulation of atmospheric seeing conditions ranging from very poor to very good and different algorithms may be easily employed on the device for comparison. These simulations can be dynamically generated and modified very quickly and easily. In addition, many models for simulating turbulence often neglect temporal transitions along with different seeing conditions. Using the statistically independent set of Karhunen-Loeve polynomials in conjunction with Kolmogorov statistics in this model provides an accurate spatial and temporal model for simulating turbulence. An added benefit to using a LC SLM is its low cost; and multiple devices can be used to simulate multiple layers of turbulence in a laboratory environment. Current testing with using multiple LC SLMs is under investigation at the Naval Research Laboratory and the Naval Postgraduate School.
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