Critical evaluation of measured pure-rotation and rotation-vibration line positions and an experimental dataset of energy levels of 12C16O in X1Σ+ state

All available transitions from microwave to visible region (3.8-10 440 cm-1) of the 12C16O molecule were collected from the literature and tested using the RITZ computer code. These data have been critically analyzed and used to obtain the most complete and precise set of 2247 experimental energy levels of this molecule covering the 0-67 000 cm-1 interval. These levels together with calculated correlation matrix can be used to generate the most precise list of transitions with confidence intervals for astrophysical and atmospheric applications. Comparisons with the HITRAN and GEISA databanks as well as with Goorvitch high-temperature linelist are discussed. A set of corrected HITRAN 12C16O transition frequencies together with 99% confidence intervals is presented; it is proposed that this should be employed as a replacement for the current HITRAN database.