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Hello there, how do you model atmospheric dispersion in Zemax? I have been searching online and can only find papers publishing the results of dispersion, no directions on how to implement it into my design. 

According to a source, “ZEMAX has a built-in atmospheric model to simulate the effects of refraction through Earth’s atmosphere. Six parameters control the model: observed zenith angle, ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure at the observer, relative humidity, height of the observer above sea level, and latitude of the observer.”

How do I model this? I can adjust temperature and pressure in the environment window. Clarification would be greatly appreciated!

Zenith angle is the angle of the object from straight overhead (angle=0°).  The horizon zenith distance is 90°, for example.

Temperature and pressure are self explanatory.

Experiment with relative humidity values to see how dispersion changes for your application and zenith angle.  The biggest change in dispersion occurs near the horizon.

Dispersion decreases with increasing altitude, for the same zenith angle.  

Latitude is an input because Earth is not a perfect sphere.  Experiment with latitude values to see how it affects your particular application.

Those six parameters are found in the Atmospheric sequential surface.

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