Founded in 1916, the Optical Society of America (OSA) was organized to increase and diffuse the knowledge of optics, pure and applied; to promote the common interests of investigators of optical problems, of designers and of users of optical apparatus of all kinds; and to encourage cooperation among them. The purposes of the Society are scientific, technical and educational.
The Optical Society of America brings together optics and photonics scientists, engineers, educators, and business leaders. OSA's membership totals 15,500 individuals from over 95 countries. Approximately 47% of the Society's members reside outside the United States.
The foreign-broadened continuum of water vapor in the ν2 band (5-7.7 microm, 1300 - 2000 cm-1) is important for satellite-based retrievals of water vapor in the upper troposphere, where temperatures are below -25 degrees C. Continuum coefficients have previously been measured mostly at or above +23 degrees C. We present continuum coefficients in the ν2 band retrieved from measurements made in Antarctica at temperatures near -30 degrees C: atmospheric transmission at South Pole Station and atmospheric emission at Dome C. The continuum coefficients derived from these measurements are generally in agreement with the widely used Mlawer, Tobin-Clough, Kneizys, Davies continuum. Differences are at most 30%, corresponding to a 6% relative error in retrieved upper-tropospheric humidity.
