A method to retrieve elements of the carbon monoxide (CO) vertical distribution from ground-based high-resolution infrared solar spectra has been developed. The method is based on the fact that the total column amount retrieved by nonlinear least squares spectral fitting techniques depends on the shape of the assumed a priori and this dependence is a function of the absorption line intensity and the lower state energy of the transition. Four CO lines between 2057 and 2159 cm-1 have been selected and the method has been tested on synthetic spectra. The CO total column content and average concentrations in two atmospheric layers (surface to 400 mbar and 400 mbar to the top of the atmosphere) can be retrieved with precisions of about 1% and less than 10%, respectively. Solar spectra recorded at Kitt Peak from 1982 to 1993 have been analyzed. The CO total column and the average concentration in the two layers show an asymmetrical seasonal cycle with extreme values of (1.1--2.1)¿1018 molecules cm-2, (50--80) parts per billion by volume (ppbv) in the top layer and (80--160) ppbv in the bottom layer, and precisions of 1, 3, and 6%, respectively; a spring maximum and late summer minimum are observed. ¿American Geophysical Union 1995