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Measurements of the intensity of a light beam produced by a laser source, reflected from a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) and propagating in a weakly turbulent maritime atmosphere have been carried out in a recent campaign on the grounds of the US Naval Academy. The effect of the degree of spatial coherence in the beam at the source plane (right after the reflection from the SLM) on the Probability Density Function (PDF) of the intensity of the propagating beam at a single fixed position in space is studied in detail. The measured intensity histogram of the fluctuating intensity is compared with the Gamma-Laguerre analytical model for the intensity PDF.

The expression for the spectral degree of coherence of a far field scattered from a collection of particles, in the polar spherical coordinate system, is derived. Such an expression may be reduced to the one in the Cartesian coordinate system in the special case when the two points considered are in the same radial direction.