A process for measuring the absorption spectrum of a target 
analyte using a cavity 
ring down spectrometer, comprising the steps of: i) tuning the 
spectrometer laser so that the light transmitted from the 
laser into the 
spectrometer optical cavity is varied over a 
wavelength interval which encompasses both the absorption 
wavelength of a spectral feature of the target 
analyte and a plurality of the free spectral ranges of the 
optical cavity; ii) triggering a plurality of ringdown events; iii) for each ringdown event, recording the 
decay time constant and the trigger time at which the light into the cavity is shut off; iv) organizing the 
decay time constants, light wavelengths and trigger times as a function of trigger time; v) ordering said light wavelengths by increasing value and placing groups of wavelengths into individual bins; vi) computing the average 
wavelength of each bin group; vii) grouping the 
decay time constants and trigger times into bins that parallel said wavelength bins, with the decay time constants in each of said parallel bin being arranged by increasing trigger time; viii) computing the average decay time for each decay time bin and using this decay 
time average, together with the average wavelength from the parallel wavelength bin, to compute the optical loss for the target 
analyte at said average wavelength.