Carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. The spatial distribution and temporal variability of the carbon sources and sinks are still uncertain and need to be better quantified for the prediction of future climate. The measurement of column averaged volume mixing ratios from the ground is important for the validation of proposed space-borne CO2 measurements and to provide input data for inverse models. Ground-based FT-solar absorption spectra in the near infrared have been obtained in Spitsbergen and during two cruises aboard the research vessel Polarstern on the Atlantic between 50°N and 40°S. Column averaged volume mixing ratios are retrieved from these measurements. The precisions of the column averaged volume mixing ratios are better than 0.5.