Spatial statistics of a light beam in the case of wind refraction in a turbulent atmosphere

The random sampling (Monte Carlo) method is used to investigate the spatial statistics of a laser beam in the case of wind refraction in a randomly inhomogeneous medium. Weakening of fluctuations of the optical field and departure from a statistical homogeneity of the beam are predicted as a result of feedback of perturbations in the nonlinear "beam–medium" system. A study is made of the limitations of the analytic approach in which nonlinear perturbations of temperature are assumed to be governed by the average intensity field.