## 5 Conclusions  
Our system concept addresses the significant challenges in UOWC caused by turbulence, which can drastically affect communication performance. By employing the adaptive optics technique based on LC-SLM phase correction, we compensate for the effects of turbulence, leading to improved BER and overall system reliability. The combination of aperture averaging and adaptive optics is effective because each technique addresses different aspects of turbulence compensation. Aperture averaging works by averaging out faster fluctuations, effectively smoothening rapid changes that the adaptive optics system cannot respond to quickly enough due to the inherent delays in real-time feedback loops. This averaging process helps stabilize the signal, reducing the impact of high-frequency turbulence. On the other hand, adaptive optics provide real-time compensation for more gradual distortions by using a feedback control loop. This dynamic adjustment enhances the robustness of the system by correcting phase distortions that aperture averaging alone cannot handle. Together, aperture averaging and adaptive optics create a complementary system where aperture averaging shifts the power concentration of scintillation from higher to lower frequencies, averaging out the fastest fluctuations in the irradiance power spectrum [32; 50], and adaptive optics correct the lower-frequency distortions, resulting in improved overall performance and reliability. This turbulence compensation technique increases the communication reach, particularly in environments with stronger turbulence. The combination of OPAs for precise beam steering and LC-SLMs for turbulence compensa  
Figure 8: BER analysis for turbulence compensation with (**a**) aperture averaging with different lens diameters, and (**b**) aperture averaging and adaptive optics with different lens diameters, cascaded with (\(16\times 16\)) OPA antenna elements in clean ocean (\(c=0.151\)\(1/\)m), \(w=-0.2\).  
tion represents a significant advancement in the development of high-performance UOWC systems. Our numerical results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed system. Future work will focus on experimental verification and further optimization of the system to fully realize its potential for UOWC applications. By combining LC-SLM based adaptive optics and aperture averaging, the system achieves a scintillation index reduction of over 90%, leading to a threefold extension in achievable link distance under strong turbulence conditions. Moreover, at a link distance of 20 m, the BER improves by up to two orders of magnitude compared to a baseline system without turbulence compensation. Our numerical results confirm that the proposed system significantly enhances communication performance under underwater turbulence.  
Conceptualization and methodology, A.D. and S.P.; writing--draft preparation, A.D.; writing--review and editing, A.D., P.A.H. and S.P.; supervision and funding acquisition, S.P. and P.A.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research received no external funding.  
Not applicable.  
The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.  
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.