Propagation of pulsed infrared radiation in the atmosphere with absorption saturation

A theoretical analysis is made of the propagation of monopulse CO2-laser radiation with nonstationary saturation of the absorption coefficient at the vibrational-rotational transition of atmospheric CO2. A numerical algorithm is developed for calculating variations of radiation intensity and its spatial distribution over the beam cross section. Numerical results are presented for the propagation of monopulse radiation at a wavelength of 10.6 microns in the atmospheric surface layer over a 10-km path.