A general discussion of remote sensing of the atmosphere

Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) infrared spectroscopy is a powerful analytical technique used to study the composition of materials. It is widely employed in chemistry, materials science, forensic science, and other fields where sample characterization is required. ATR has several advantages over traditional transmission IR spectroscopy, including the requirement of little to no sample preparation and the ability to analyze a wide range of samples.
The ATR process begins by directing a beam...

A drone flying through complex terrain often relies on more than one sensing method to estimate small changes in altitude. Along with direct measurements, air pressure provides a useful indirect indicator of vertical movement. Atmospheric pressure decreases as altitude increases, and this relationship is commonly described using an exponential model. Although accurate, converting pressure measurements into altitude values requires calculations that are too complex to perform repeatedly during...

Overview

When electromagnetic radiation passes through a material, atoms or molecules transition from a lower to a higher energy state by absorbing radiation corresponding to the energy difference between the two states. The absorption of infrared (IR) radiation causes transitions between vibrational energy levels in a molecule. Therefore, IR spectroscopy is a useful analytical tool for determining the molecular structure of molecules.
Different compounds display unique properties due to their...

The non-destructive nature and ability to provide valuable chemical information make IR spectroscopy a versatile technique with broad applications in various scientific and industrial fields. IR spectroscopy is commonly used to identify and characterize organic and inorganic compounds. It provides information about the functional groups present in a molecule and the bonding between atoms. This helps in the structural elucidation of compounds during organic synthesis, pharmaceutical research,...

Change in atmospheric pressure with height is particularly interesting. The decrease in atmospheric pressure with increasing altitude is due to the decreasing gravitational force per unit area as we move away from the surface of the earth.
Assuming the air temperature is constant at a given altitude and that the ideal gas law of thermodynamics describes the atmosphere to a good approximation, one can find the variation of atmospheric pressure with height.
Let p(y) be the atmospheric pressure at...