Infrared Opto-Acoustic Spectroscopy of the Atmosphere and the Stratosphere

Opto-acoustic spectroscopy - the technique of measuring spectral absorption characteristics of materials by calorimetric means - has come of age with the availability of tunable lasers producing reasonably high powers. Solids, liquids and gases have been studied with this technique in the range from near ultraviolet to the infrared. However, in the present review I shall restrict the discussion to the opto-acoustic spectroscopy of gaseous materials in the infrared region only.