Abstract
It is shown that the relaxation method for inverse solution of the full radiative transfer equation leads to unique temperature profiles. Apart from its attractive simplicity, the algorithm is also capable of discriminating between noise and valid information without any need for data smoothing. A set of new inverse problems is formulated for the determination of the concentration of absorbing gases in an atmosphere, the extent and height of clouds, and surface elevations. The proposed methods are illustrated by examples in the earth's atmosphere for the region of the 4.3 μ CO2 band.
