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The effect of collision‐induced absorption by molecular oxygen (O 2 ) and nitrogen (N 2 ) on the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) of the Earth's atmosphere has been quantified. We have found that on global average under clear‐sky conditions the OLR is reduced due to O 2 by 0.11 Wm −2 and due to N 2 by 0.17 Wm −2 . Together this amounts to 15% of the OLR‐reduction caused by CH 4 at present atmospheric concentrations. Over Antarctica the combined effect of O 2 and N 2 increases on average to about 38% of CH 4 with single values reaching up to 80%. This is explained by less interference of H 2 O spectral bands on the absorption features of O 2 and N 2 for dry atmospheric conditions.
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Höpfner et al. (2012) studied this question.
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