## 4 Discussion
Due to the nature of our experiment, we believe these methods may also hold promise in improving underwater optical communication [40]. As discussed in Section 2.1, to encode onto an arbitrary polarization state, the light can be passed through a QWP, followed by a HWP, and then another QWP. Rotating these three components allows for any point within the Poincare sphere. Our results have potential to improve already existing polarization dependant communication schemes [41; 42; 43; 22]. Encryption schemes similar to quantum key distribution [41] can also be performed, where the sender and receiver share a key which determines which bases to measure. Since DOP is a projection onto the three-dimensional Poincare sphere, it can potentially be used as a turbulence resistant communication mode, in which information is carried in both the base and value. As the Poincare sphere is analogous to the Bloch sphere, applications can potentially be implemented in the field of quantum information. Polarization multiplexing for space-to-ground optical communication has been studied [44]. Furthermore, we show the intensity fluctuations generated with our experimental setup are similar to models used to describe true atmospheric turbulence on the macro scale [9]. Results obtained in experiment and simulation agree with one another. Simulation results also suggest that our experimental method of generating bubbles will produce the same results as with continuously varying index of reflection media when examining the input and output states of polarization. Ongoing work will need to be done to verify that changing turbulence properties do not alter the DOP and SOP. Conceptualization, R.S., W.Z. and D.B. ; methodology, N.S. and R.S. ; software, J.L. ; validation, N.S., J.L., W.Z. and R.S. ; formal analysis, N.S. and J.L. ; investigation, N.S., J.L., W.Z. and R.S. ; resources, R.G. and D.B. ; data curation, N.S. and J.L. ; writing--original draft preparation, N.S., J.L. and R.S. ; writing--review and editing, N.S. and J.L. ; visualization, N.S. and J.L. ; supervision, R.G. and D.B. ; project administration, R.G. and D.B. ; funding acquisition, D.B. and R.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research was funded by U.S. Office of Naval Research (N000141912374); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (D19 AP00043); U.S. Army Research Office (W911 NF-23-1-0288). This material is also based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) under Award Number DE-SC0024166. The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors on request. This material is based upon research supported by, or in part by, the U.S. Office of Naval Research under award number N000141912374. This work was also supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant number D19 AP00043 under mentorship of [PERSON]. D.I.B. is also supported by the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) under grant W911 NF-23-1-0288. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of DARPA, ONR, ARO, or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. **Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.