Daylight imaging of SSA targets through distributed volume non-Kolmogorov and anisotropic deep turbulence at low elevation angles

Monte-Carlo simulations featuring Kolmogorov phase screens have long been used in understanding both the effects of atmospheric turbulence on imaging and the performance of turbulence mitigation methods. We have developed a new, high fidelity, non-Kolmogorov phase screen model that allows the orientation of anisotropy to vary arbitrarily. Our model is used to generate simulated video sequences featuring a common satellite-imaging target in lowelevation, daylight imaging scenarios, where these effects are thought to be common. These sequences demonstrate the effects of anisotropic, non-Kolmogorov turbulence, which can be unintuitive. We also briefly examine how these non-traditional features affect the performance of certain post-processing techniques, such as speckle imaging.