Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) technology is widely used in atmospheric environment monitoring, combustion diagnosis and other fields. It has the advantages of high sensitivity, high selectivity, fast response, adapting to harsh environment, multi-component real-time on-line monitoring and so on. Taking the application of TDLAS technology in atmospheric environment detection as an example, according to the different ways of gas detection based on TDLAS technology, it is divided into direct absorption spectroscopy (DAS), frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS). The high sensitive modulation spectroscopy technology is introduced, and the research progress and development trend of TDLAS in the field of atmospheric environment detection are briefly reviewed.