The problem of laser pulse interaction with small solid particles (SSP) in a gas atmosphere when detecting its parameters is a serious one in industrial and environmental applications. Previous investigations have shown the possibility of using the laser induced breakdown method. This method is very sensitive, but for a particle size of less than 0.1 μm the damage threshold of the solid target is very close to the breakdown point of pure gas. At breakdown, a small volume of dense hot plasma emits radiation by which the size and material of particles can be detected. We used an analytical model, simulation code and experiments to analyze this radiation and found that the emitted intensity varied with laser, gas and particle parameters. The increased dependence of SSP plasma emission rate on initial particle volume permits this method to be used for measuring small particle size by using emitted line spectrum at the late time stage.