Effect of CO2 line width on 15 μm atmospheric emission

The effects of CO₂ spectral line width and density on the atmosphere's radiant intensity at ～710 cm^-1 are calculated. An increase of 30% in the currently accepted line width, justified on the basis of laboratory data, increases the prediction of radiant intensity by about 5%. The use of the increased line width leads to good agreement in a test case using satellite data. Nominal changes of a few per cent of the CO₂ density result in changes in the radiant intensity of a fraction of 1%.