Optical model of the atmosphere for correcting IR measurements by satellite and ground-based remote sensing systems.

The basic principles for constructing an optical model of the atmosphere in a region of Belarus are discussed for use in atmospheric correction of signals detected by satellite and ground-based IR systems. The input data for the model are the near-earth or altitude-integrated optical and meteorological parameters of the atmosphere and the season. These are used to calculate the height distributions of the air temperature, concentrations of atmospheric gases, concentration of aerosols in the troposphere, and the microphysical parameters of background and post-volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere. A set of programs for calculating the spectral transmission of the atmosphere on personal computer is described. The model is compared with ground-based measurements of the spectral transmission along a horizontal path in the atmosphere and satellite-based measurements of the brightness temperature of the atmosphere. An example of the use of these programs to estimate the thresholds for detection of distant objects by IR search and survey systems is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]