[en] We report the spectroscopic detection of vibrationally excited molecular hydrogen using 2+1 resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) via the I ¹Π_g (v' = 0) - X ¹Σ_g⁺ (v^'' = 3) band ca. 198 nm. Vibrationally excited H₂ was produced by passing room-temperature hydrogen over a hot ion gauge filament in a high-vacuum chamber. The internal energy distributions were characterized spectroscopically by use of the EF ¹Σ_g⁺-X ¹Σ_g⁺ 2+1 REMPI detection scheme. We have identified band origins for the S, Q, R, and P rotational branches of the I-X (0,3) band, as well as isolated lines corresponding to two-photon transitions into other nearby H₂ gerade states, including EF ¹Σ_g^- (v' = 2, 3, 4), GK ¹Σ_g⁺ (v' = 1), and J ¹Δ_g (v' = 0). We propose the I-X transition as a suitable candidate for the determination of the rotational anisotropy of vibrationally excited ground-state H₂ molecules. We support this contention with a calculation of the line strength moments and sensitivities to the second- (quadrupolar) and fourth-rank (hexade-capolar) moments of the rotational angular momentum distributions, which is compared against the well-established Q-branch members of the EF ¹Σ_g⁺-X ¹Σ_g⁺ two-photon transition. (orig.)