Experimental study on the temperature dependence of ultraviolet absorption cross-sections of sulfur dioxide

The photoabsorption cross-sections of sulfur dioxide were measured in the spectral regions of 200–230 nm and 275–315 nm at 298–415 K, using a grating monochromator with a resolution of 0.2 nm. The discrete absorption cross-section is directly correlated with the number of quantum excited from the base state. The absorption cross-sections at the peaks of discrete bands decreased linearly with the increase of temperature, which corresponded to the decrease in the population of vibrational and rotational transitions from the base level to higher excitation levels. The absorption cross-section peaks decreased linearly when the temperature increased from 298 to 415 K, with relative drops of 74.0% and 75.8% at 200–230 nm and 275–315 nm, respectively. Another distinctive feature of sulfur dioxide absorption spectra in the above two spectral regions was the quasiperiodic structure of the absorption peaks, whose equal wavelength intervals were 1.53 nm and 1.95 nm, respectively. Red and blue shifts were not found at the absorption peak positions.