Laurence S. Rothman (Air Force Geophysics Directorate, Phillips Laboratory, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.): "Most molecules have strong absorption features in the infrared and microwave region of the spectrum. The HITRAN database is a compilation of fundamental parameters of molecular transitions that permit users to identify and make quantitative determinations of transmission and radiance through atmospheric, laboratory, or other gaseous environments. Advances in sensor technology, high-resolution spectrometers, and computer power have enabled excellent discrimination of background sources, such as smokestack effluents through long-path observations.
"More than 30 gases, including their principal isotopic variants, have been archived as a result of high-resolution experimental and theoretical efforts. The database now contains almost three-quarters of a million transitions (each transition consisting of 100 bytes of information concerning basic properties such as resonant frequency, intensity, and quantum identification) from the millimeter region to the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. In addition, cross-sections of ...
