ROTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF $H_{2} O$ EMISSION SPECTRA

Author Institution: Institute for Molecular Physics, University of Maryland; Institute for Molecular Physics, National Bureau of StandardsThe spectrum of the oxy-hydrogen flame has been observed with high resolution ($\sim$$0.05 cm^{-1}$) between 2800--3500 $cm^{-1}$ and 3940--4200 $cm^{-1}$. Over 2000 lines have been measured with reproducibility of $\sim$$0.01 cm^{-1}$. Most of the strong lines have been assigned to high-J transitions in the following bands of $H_{2}$: 001--000, 011--010, 021--020, 100--000, 002--001 and 101--100. In 001, 4 degenerate low-$K_{a}$ series can be followed in both R- and P- branches to ${n}^{\prime} = 2{J}^{\prime} - {K}^{\prime}_{n} = 31$, providing accurate combination differences. Other higher-$K_{a}$ branches are assigned, fixing most of the ground-state energy levels up to $7000 cm^{-1}$. Difficulties in fitting the data to high-order centrifugal-stretching models will be discussed