NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Nearly 4800 features of ammonia between 6300 and 7000 cm -1 with intensities Z 4 × 10 -24 cm -1/(molecule Á cm -2) at 296 K were measured using 16 pure NH3 spectra recorded at various temperatures (296–185 K) with the McMath–Pierce Fourier Transform Spectrometer at Kitt Peak National Observatory, AZ. The line positions and intensities were retrieved by fitting individual spectra based on a Voigt line shape profile and then averaging the values to form the experimental linelist. The integrated intensity of the region was 4.68 × 10 -19 cm -1/(molecule Á cm -2) at 296 K. Empirical lower state energies were also estimated for 3567 absorption line features using line intensities retrieved from 10 spectra recorded at gas temperature between 185 and 233 K. Finally, using Ground State Combination Differences (GSCDs) and the empirical lower state energy estimates, the quantum assignments were determined for 1096 transitions in the room temperature linelist, along with empirical upper state energies for 434 levels. The assignments correspond to seven vibrational states, as confirmed from recent ab initio calculations. The resulting composite database of 14NH3 line parameters will provide experimental constraints to ab initio calculations and support remote sensing of gaseous bodies including the atmospheres of Earth, (exo)planets, brown dwarfs, and other astrophysical environments.