An analysis of original data obtained in different seasons on the scattering and transmission of CO2-laser radiation in the atmosphere is presented. It is established that molecular and aerosol absorption make the main contribution to the attenuation. Data from investigations performed under natural conditions show much higher directionality of the scattering functions than the theoretical models do. For scattering angles from 0 degrees to 45 degrees the directional scattering index drops by more than a factor of 100. A model representation is proposed for the scattering function near 10.6 mu m in the surface layer of the atmosphere. (C) 1999 The Optical Society of America. [S1070-9762(99)00511-4].