Topic summary
Scintillometer
A scintillometer is a scientific device used to measure turbulent fluctuations of the refractive index of air caused by variations in temperature, humidity, and pressure. It consists of an optical or radio wave transmitter and a receiver at opposite ends of an atmospheric propagation path. The receiver detects and evaluates the intensity fluctuations of the transmitted signal, called scintillation.
The magnitude of the refractive index fluctuations is usually measured in terms of , the , which is the spectral amplitude of refractive index fluctuations in the . Some types of scintillometers, such as displaced-beam scintillometers, can also measure the , which is the smallest size of eddies in the inertial subrange.
Scintillometers also allow measurements of the transfer of heat between the Earth's surface and the air above, called the sensible heat flux. Inner-scale scintillometers can also measure the and the momentum flux.