The actual effect of laser propagation in the atmosphere is not only related to its own propagation mechanism, but also closely related to atmospheric factors. Therefore, to accurately evaluate the effect of laser atmospheric propagation, it is not only necessary to carry out the mechanism research and establish the mathematical model of laser atmosoheric propagation, but also mecessary to carry out measurement, analysis and prediction of the optical characteristics of the atmosphere in the propagating process. Considering the complexity of the real atmospheric environment and the interaction of many factors, most of the researches adopt the physical experiment or the numerical simulation with controlled parameters to quantitatively reveal the influence of various atmospheric factors on laser propagation. Based on a large number of field measurements and the physical correlation analysis, the research of atmospheric optical characteristics focuses on the parametric modeling of optical turbulence. The development of the performance evaluation technology for the high energy laser was briefly introduced when propagating in the atmosphere at home and aboard, and its development trend for the practical application of high energy laser system in the future was pointed out.