Experimental investigation of the self- and N 2 -broadenedcontinuum within the ν 2 band of watervapor

We present an experimental study of the self- and N2-broadened H2O continuum in microwindows within the ν2 fundamental centered at ~1600 cm−1. The continuum is derived from transmission spectra recorded at room temperature with a BOMEM Fourier transform spectrometer at a resolution of ~0.040 cm−1. Although we find general agreement with previous studies, our results suggest that there is significant near-wing super-Lorentzian behavior that produces a highly wave-number-dependent structure in the continuum as it is currently defined.