Abstract

The principal characteristics of far-infrared (FIR) remote sensing of the atmosphere are: (i) the use of optical techniques at very long wavelengths, (ii) the fact that a relatively cold source, such as the atmosphere, can be observed in emission in the Rayleigh-Jeans region of the black-body distribution, (iii) the fact that many minor stratospheric constituents display a pure rotational spectrum in this region.

© 1991 Optical Society of America