An extensive literature survey of recent developments in the field of radiative transfer has been done. Within the scope of plane-parallel solutions of the RTE several solution methods have been presented: E.g. spherical harmonics, discrete ordinates, adding, doubling, matrix-operator, finite difference, and Gauss Seidel iteration. Solutions of the vector RTE permitting to take into account polarization and the subject of multidimensional geometry have been examined. General information and some models commonly used for solving the spherical RTE are presented. The subjects of RTM at millimetre wavelengths and the state of considering non-LTE effects has been reviewed. Models for the purpose of spectral integration have been discussed: GOMETRAN, LOWTRAN, MODTRAN, FASCOD-3, GENLN-2, and RADTRAN. Processes in the atmosphere influencing radiative transfer have been discussed: Monochromatic molecular absorption/emission properties (line parameters, line-mixing, and Dicke effect), broadband features (if required), scattering, properties of clouds and aerosols, and the lower boundary condition. Within a review of campaigns the validation problem has been discussed. (orig./KW)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RR 1857(17) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekEuropean Space Agency (ESA), 75 - Paris (France)DEGerman