Higher ro-vibrational levels of H2O deduced from high resolution oxygen-hydrogen flame spectra between 2800–6200 cm-1

Hydrogen-oxygen flame spectra have been recorded from 2850 cm-1 to 6200 cm-1 with a high resolution Fourier transform spectrometer at a limit of resolution of about 0·015 cm-1, and the emission spectrum of hot water vapour has been obtained. The complete analysis of the v 1, v 3 and v 2 + v 3 bands has been performed. A large set of new higher rotational energy levels for the (000), (100), (001) and (011) vibrational states is reported. A discussion of the assignment problem and of the least squares method for deriving the energy levels from the observed transitions is detailed.