Knowledge Bank

In 1977 the Infrared Mobile Optical Radiation Laboratory (IMORL) facility of NRL’s Optical Sciences Division conducted in-situ field experiments which precisely measured infrared absorption along a 5-km coastal path at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Fourier-transform spectroscopy (FTS) instrumentation capable of resolving the vibration-rotation absorption-line structure of atmospheric gases was used to record the infrared absorption of the experimental path during a variety of weather conditions. Related laser-extinction measurements made along the same path provided absolute transmission calibrations for the FTS spectra in the region between 5 $\mu m$ and 3 $\mu$m. Fifteen of these absolute-transmission spectra and a tabulation of the associated meteorological measurements have been assembled on digital magnetic tape. The resulting 1977 NRL-IMORL Data $Base1$ provides a unique compendium of spectral information about the atmosphere and its infrared properties.