Temperature dependences of mechanisms responsible for the water-vapor continuum absorption. II. Dimers and collision-induced absorption

Effect of humidity on the absorption continua of CO2 and N2 near 4 μm: Calculations, comparisons with measurements, and consequences for atmospheric spectra

We present a theoretical study of the effects of collisions with water vapor molecules on the absorption, around 4 μm, in both the high frequency wing of the CO₂ ν₃ band and the collision-induced fundamental band of N₂. Calculations are made for the very first time, showing that predictions based on classical molecular dynamics simulations enable, without adjustment of any parameter, very satisfactory agreement with the few available experimental determinations. This opens the route for a future study in which accurate temperature-dependent (semi-empirical) models will be built and checked through comparisons between computed and measured atmospheric spectra. This is of interest since, as demonstrated by simulations, neglecting the humidity of air can lead to significant modifications of the atmospheric transmission (and thus also emission) between 2000 and 2800 cm^-1.

Accurate measurements and temperature dependence of the water vapor self-continuum absorption in the 2.1 μm atmospheric window

In spite of its importance for the evaluation of the Earth radiative budget, thus for climate change, very few measurements of the water vapor continuum are available in the near infrared atmospheric windows especially at temperature conditions relevant for our atmosphere. In addition, as a result of the difficulty to measure weak broadband absorption signals, the few available measurements show large disagreements. We report here accurate measurements of the water vapor self-continuum absorption in the 2.1 μm window by Optical Feedback Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) for two spectral points located at the low energy edge and at the center of the 2.1 μm transparency window, at 4302 and 4723 cm(-1), respectively. Self-continuum cross sections, CS, were retrieved with a few % relative uncertainty, from the quadratic dependence of the spectrum base line level measured as a function of water vapor pressure, between 0 and 16 Torr. At 296 K, the CS value at 4302 cm(-1) is found 40% higher than predicted by the MT_CKD V2.5 model, while at 4723 cm(-1), our value is 5 times larger than the MT_CKD value. On the other hand, these OF-CEAS CS values are significantly smaller than recent measurements by Fourier transform spectroscopy at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the self-continuum cross sections was also investigated for temperatures between 296 K and 323 K (23-50 °C). The derived temperature variation is found to be similar to that derived from previous Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) measurements performed at higher temperatures, between 350 K and 472 K. The whole set of measurements spanning the 296-472 K temperature range follows a simple exponential law in 1/T with a slope close to the dissociation energy of the water dimer, D0 ≈ 1100 cm(-1).

Rotationally resolved water dimer spectra in atmospheric air and pure water vapour in the 188–258 GHz range

Millimeter wave spectra of the water dimer under the conditions close to the atmospheric ones in pure water vapour and its mixture with air are detected and quantitatively analyzed.

Water dimer rotationally resolved millimeter-wave spectrum observation at room temperature

Water dimers (H(2)O)(2) are believed to affect Earth's radiation balance and climate, homogeneous condensation, and atmospheric chemistry. Moreover, the pairwise interaction which binds the dimer appears to be of paramount importance for expounding a complete molecular description of the liquid and solid phases of water. However, there have been no secure, direct observations of water dimers at environmentally relevant temperatures despite decades of studies. We report the first unambiguous observation of the dimer spectrum recorded in equilibrium water vapor at room temperature.

Molecular dynamics simulations for CO2 spectra. III. Permanent and collision-induced tensors contributions to light absorption and scattering

Classical molecular dynamics simulations have been performed for gaseous CO(2) starting from an accurate anisotropic intermolecular potential. Through calculations of the evolutions of the positions and orientations of a large number of molecules, the time evolutions of the permanent and collision-induced electric dipole vector and polarizability tensor are obtained. These are computed from knowledge of static molecular parameters taking only the leading induction terms into account. The Laplace transforms of the auto-correlation functions of these tensors then directly yield the light absorption and scattering spectra. These predictions are, to our knowledge, the first in which the contributions of permanent and collision-induced tensors are simultaneously taken into account for gaseous CO(2), without any adjusted parameter. Comparisons between computations and measurements are made for absorption in the region of the ν(3) infrared band and for depolarized Rayleigh scattering in the roto-translational band. They demonstrate the quality of the model over spectral ranges from the band center to the far wings where the spectrum varies by several orders of magnitude. The contributions of the permanent and interaction-induced (dipole and polarizability) tensors are analyzed for the first time, through the purely permanent (allowed), purely induced, and cross permanent∕induced components of the spectra. It is shown that, while the purely induced contribution is negligible when compared to the collision-broadened allowed component, the cross term due to interferences between permanent and induced tensors significantly participates to the wings of the bands. This successfully clarifies the long lasting, confusing situation for the mechanisms governing the wings of the CO(2) spectra considered in this work.

Theoretical interpretation of the UV-vis spectrum of the CS2/Cl complex in the spectral region 320-550 nm

Accurate multireference configuration interaction and time-dependent density functional calculations have been performed to interpret the experimental UV-vis spectrum of the CS(2)/Cl complex in the spectral region 320-550 nm. The molecular structure of the complex responsible for the previously observed UV-vis spectrum is recognized as ClSCS, not ClCS(2). Two low-lying excited states of ClSCS, responsible for its optical absorption, have been identified and analyzed. Optical excitation of ClSCS leads to the excitation-specific bond elongation that may lead to photofragmentation of the molecule. In addition, experimental conditions for verifying the presence of ClCS(2) are identified and detailed characterization of its optically active excited states with possible photofragmentation pathways is given.