Solar occultation spectra obtained with a balloon-borne interferometer have been used to study continuous absorption by N2 and CO2 near 2400 cm-1 in the lower stratosphere. Synthetic continuum transmittances, calculated from published coefficients for far-wing absorption by CO2 lines and for pressure-induced absorption by the fundamental band of N2, are in fair agreement with the observed stratospheric values. The continuum close to the ν3 R-branch band head of CO2 is sensitive to the CO2 far-wing line shape. Therefore, given highly accurate knowledge of the N2 continuum from laboratory data, high-resolution stratospheric spectra provide a sensitive means for in situ testing of various air-broadened CO2 line shapes at low temperatures.
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The shapes of the extreme wings of self-broadened CO2(lines have been investigated)in three spectral regions near 7000, 3800, and 2400 cm-1. Absorption measurements have been made on the high-wavenumber sides of band heads where much of the absorption by samples at a few atm is due to the extreme wings of strong lines whose centers occur below the band heads. New information has been obtained about the shapes of self-broadened CO2 lines as well as CO2 lines broadened by N2, O2, Ar, He, and H2. Beyond a few cm-1 from the line centers, all of the lines absorb less than Lorentz-shaped lines having the same half-widths. The deviation from the Lorentz shape decreases with increasing wavenumber, from one of the three spectral regions to the next. The absorption by the wings of H2- and He-broadened lines is particularly low, and the absorption decreases with increasing temperature at a rate faster than predicted by existing theories.
