diff --git a/esbo_etc/classes/optical_component/Atmosphere.py b/esbo_etc/classes/optical_component/Atmosphere.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0727237
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esbo_etc/classes/optical_component/Atmosphere.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+from esbo_etc.classes import AOpticalComponent, ITransmissive, SpectralQty
+import astropy.units as u
+
+
+class Atmosphere(AOpticalComponent):
+    """
+    A class to model the atmosphere including the atmosphere's spectral transmittance and emission.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, parent: ITransmissive, transmittance: str, emission: str = None) -> "Atmosphere":
+        """
+        Initialize a new atmosphere model
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        parent : ITransmissive
+            The parent element of the atmosphere from which the electromagnetic radiation is received.
+            This element is usually of type Target or StrayLight.
+        transmittance : str
+            Path to the file containing the spectral transmittance-coefficients of the atmosphere.
+            The format of the file will be guessed by `astropy.io.ascii.read()`.
+        emission : str
+            Path to the file containing the spectral radiance of the atmosphere.
+            The format of the file will be guessed by `astropy.io.ascii.read()`.
+        """
+        # Read the transmittance
+        transmittance_sqty = SpectralQty.fromFile(transmittance, wl_unit_default=u.nm,
+                                                       qty_unit_default=u.dimensionless_unscaled)
+        if emission is None:
+            # No emission is given, initialize the super class
+            super().__init__(parent, transmittance_sqty)
+        else:
+            # Read the emission
+            emission_sqty = SpectralQty.fromFile(emission, wl_unit_default=u.nm,
+                                                           qty_unit_default=u.dimensionless_unscaled)
+            # Initialize the super class
+            super().__init__(parent, transmittance_sqty, emission_sqty)