CORRECTION OF INSTRUMENT LINE-SHAPE DISTORTIONS IN FOURIER-TRANSFORM SPECTROSCOPY

A recovery procedure has been developed to correct instrument line-sha pe distortions observed in Fourier transform spectroscopy. The procedu re can be described as a phase-error collection performed in the spect ral domain to correct for path-difference-dependent phase errors obser ved in sharp spectral features. The technique has been applied success fully to high-resolution atmospheric emission spectra. The inherent br oadening of the real features has been separated accurately from instr umental distortions. Using models for the path-difference-dependent er ror sources and data from two narrow window regions at 50 and 118 cm(- 1), we show that the distortion has a simple dependence on the spectra l frequency. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.