Causes of blur in imaging through the atmosphere: A system engineering approach to imaging

Aerosol blur, often referred to as the adjacency effect, is well-established as the primary and perhaps only source of atmospheric blur in remote sensing imaging from satellites. However, much of the propagation community considers turbulence blur only in interpreting experiments, and then notes discrepancies with turbulence theory without considering how aerosol blur may have affected their experiments. Because of the complexities of atmospheric and meteorological processes a broad system engineering approach is called for, which includes aerosols, turbulence, absorption, and any other atmospheric effects. In general, turbulence is most significant at low elevations up to a few meters above earth's surface, and aerosol blur is most significant at higher elevations, especially if optical depth is on the order of unity or more.