Radiation in the atmosphere continues to be an area of intense research activity, as evidenced by the large number of publications which have appeared during the last 4 years and the several symposia which have been devoted either in large part or exclusively to atmospheric radiation. In the previous quadrennial report the authors of this section screened over 900 titles and listed about 750 in the bibliography; this time we have selected about 600 titles. The somewhat decreased number is probably due to our careful avoidance of papers dealing with satellite investigations and with the atmospheres of other planets, these subjects being covered in separate summaries. In addition, it would not be surprising if the tightening of research budgets were to somewhat dampen the burgeoning of research in general, and hopefully we may be becoming more selective in our headlong rush for publication.