DETERMINATION OF THE CONTENTS OF CO AND N2O TRACE GASES BY THE METHODOF ACTIVE SENSING OF THE ATMOSPHERE AT MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS

Estimates of the optical depth of the atmospheric path between two sat ellites have been performed at the resonance-absorption frequencies of CO and N2O trace gases in the millimetre and submillimetre bands, tak ing into account data about their concentrations in the atmosphere. It is shown that, from sighting distances of similar to 15 km, optical d epths are almost completely determined by trace gases and can be measu red. This indicates that the method of active sensing of the atmospher e can be applied to determine the CO and N2O contents.