Change in the optical thickness of an aqueous aerosol under the action of CO2 laser radiation pulses

An experimental study was made of the bleaching of an aqueous aerosol (artificial fog) by CO₂ laser radiation pulses of ~50 W/cm² power density. An analytic dependence of the degree of bleaching on the initial optical thickness of the aerosol was obtained. This dependence and the experimental results were used to find the efficiency of aerosol evaporation.