PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF AND COMPENSATION FOR ASPECT-RATIO EFFECTS OF FAST-FOURIER-TRANSFORM-BASED SIMULATIONS OF LARGE ATMOSPHERIC WAVE-FRONTS

Fast-Fourier-transform-based simulators of atmospheric wave fronts wit h a von Karman turbulence spectrum were tested with reference to the p hase-structure function and phase variance over a pupil on large squar e and rectangular formats. The symmetry and the accuracy of the phase- structure function were found to be limited by the aspect ratio and th e size of the phase screen. The phase variance over a pupil is less se nsitive to the aspect ratio than the phase-structure function and is d ependent mainly on the size of the phase screen. Several tests are rep orted and discussed together with a method of compensation for the neg ative effects of rectangular formats. (C) 1998 Optical Society of Amer ica.