Centrifugal distortion analysis of pure rotational spectra of H216O,H217O,and H218O

Centrifugal distortion analyses based entirely on high-quality infrared data are carried out for the ground vibrational states of H₂¹⁶O, H₂¹⁷O, and H₂¹⁸O. As a result of the analyses, the values of 27 rotation and distortion constants for each species are determined. By using these constants it was possible to improve considerably the accuracy of the literature values for rotational energy levels at high J_τ, especially for H₂¹⁷O and H₂¹⁸O. The experimental values for the energy levels are deduced from the observed rotational transitions constituting the fitted data.