Method for a quantitative investigation of the frozen flow hypothesis

We present a technique to test the frozen flow hypothesis quantitatively, u sing data from wave-front sensors such as those found in adaptive optics sy stems. Detailed treatments of the theoretical background of the method and of the error analysis are presented. Analyzing data from the 1.5-m and 3.5- m telescopes at the Starfire Optical Range, we find that the frozen flow hy pothesis is an accurate description of the temporal development of atmosphe ric turbulence on time scales of the order of 1-10 ms but that significant deviations from the frozen flow behavior are present for longer time scales . (C) 2000 Optical Society of America [S0740-3232(00)00509-3] OCIS codes: 0 10.1080, 010.1330, 010.7350, 280.7250.