Analysis of Infrared Laser Atmospheric Transmission Data Base†

Abstract

An extensive data base comprised of atmospheric transmission and associated meteorological measurements has been collected by NRL during the past five years. Long-path extinction measurements at discreet laser frequencies have been supplemented by high resolution FTS data in several recent experiments. The most comprehensive experiment of this nature was performed in 1977 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Florida using a 5.08 kilometer overwater path. A compendium1 of data from this experiment has been published but until recently only limited analyses2,3 of these data have been performed. The present paper contains comparisons of both line4 and continuum5-7 molecular absorption models with the 1977 CCAFS measurements together with additional information obtained during more recent work.8-10