Monitoring the response of the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere to a greenhouse gas scenario

During the past two years a system has been under development to contribute to this monitoring process by making measurement of the downwelling infrared radiance field at moderate spectral resolution. Sensitivity of the measurements to the presence of cirrus cloudiness, and effective particle size in cirrus clouds has been demonstrated. Sensitivity of the measurements to concentration of C02 and to the gross temperature structure of a 2CO2 atmosphere have been modeled, and measurements have been made at various locations to provide a data base for further system evaluation. A temperature retrieval algorithm has been acquired and examined concerning its potential for monitoring temperature and gaseous concentration profiles. A continue research program is described herein that may be divided into three parts. First, continued system development must be pursued. This includes continued attention to the absolute accuracy of the measurements, and implementation of the Path Characterization Algorithm (retrieval code). Second, the value of long term deployment of the system at a site of considerable elevation is necessary. Third, inclusion of a solar transmission capability at moderate resolution is proposed