New laser diagnostics are proposed that make it possible to identify the locations within flames where the rate of production of nitric oxides, d[NO]/dt, is especially large. The method is based on measuring the terms on the right-hand side of the rate equation for thermal NO: d[NO](th)/ = 2k(T) [O] [N-2] The proposed method combines laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) to measure the oxygen atom concentration [O], laser Rayleigh scattering to quantify gas temperature, and an equilibrium assumption to determine [N-2] from the temperature data. Previously, it has been possible to measure concentrations of NO with LIF, but this is not sufficient; what also is needed is a way to measure the rate of production of nitric oxides (d[NO]/dt) to identify locations where production of NO is excessive. The accuracy of the proposed LIF/Rayleigh scattering method was investigated by comparing results to those obtained with conventional sampling probes and equilibrium chemistry codes. Signal to noise and accuracy are discussed.