ON THE USE OF O-2 SPIN-ROTATION LINES FOR ELEVATION ANGLE CALIBRATION OF ATMOSPHERIC THERMAL EMISSION-SPECTRA

The magnetic dipole-allowed spin-rotation lines of O2 potentially can be used for pointing calibration and confirmation of float altilude for far infrared spectra of the stratosphere obtained from balloon platforms. We demonstrate that current deficiencies in the spectroscopic database, particularly the air pressure-broadening coefficients, severely limit the capability of deriving useful pointing calibrations, and that precise pressure-bradening measurements for the transitions actually used in calibration are needed to improve this capability.