Abstract
OBSERVATIONS of the far infrared (50–700µ) pure rotational absorption lines of various atmospheric molecules are hampered by the intense absorption of the water molecule. One remedy is to carry instruments to altitudes where the quantity of water is sufficiently reduced to enable other lines to be distinguished. Aircraft platforms at altitudes of about 12 km can penetrate the tropopause and satisfy this requirement. Past workers1–3 have obtained spectra in the far infrared range in this way, but their work has been limited by two factors : (a) lack of highly sensitive detectors; (b) inability to record spectra using the Sun as a source. Together these two factors have limited resolutions to 1 cm−1 or greater with modest signal-to-noise ratios, and it has been difficult to identify individual rotational lines in the far infrared spectrum.
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MACQUEEN, R., EDDY, J. & LÉNA, P. New Far Infrared Observations of Atmospheric Molecular Lines. Nature 220, 1112–1113 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/2201112a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2201112a0
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