Laser Radiation Absorption in the Atmosphere of Titan

Abstract

General formulas for the extinction coefficient of laser radiation in an atmosphere are derived. They take into account nonlinear effects and significantly differ from the linear optics results. Specific calculations are carried out for the atmosphere of Titan. It is shown that consideration of a close-to-real altitude dependence of the concentration of atmospheric gases leads to the altitude dependence of the extinction coefficient being significantly different from the results obtained using the barometric formula. The extinction coefficient in the atmosphere of Triton is also estimated.