Tunable diode laser (TDL) absorption sensors of water vapor are attractive for temperature, gas composition, velocity, pressure, and mass flux measurements in a variety of practical applications including hydrocarbon-fueled combustion systems. Optimized design of these sensors requires a complete catalog of the assigned transitions with accurate spectroscopic data; our particular interest has been in the 2ν 1 , 2ν 3 , and ν 1 +ν 3 bands in the near-IR where telecommunications diode lasers are available. In support of this need, fully resolved absorption spectra of H 2 O vapor in the spectral range of 6940–7440cm −1 (1344–1441nm) have been measured as a function of temperature (296–1000K) and pressure (1–800Torr), and quantitative spectroscopic parameters inferred from these spectra compared to published data from Toth, HITRAN 2000 and HITRAN 2004. The peak absorbances were measured for more than 100 strong transitions at 296 and 828K, and linestrengths determined for 47 strong lines in this region. In addition to reference linestrengths S(296K), the air-broadening coefficients γ air (296K) and temperature exponents n were inferred for strong transitions in five narrow regions, near 7185.60, 7203.89, 7405.11, 7426.14 and 7435.62cm −1 that had been targeted as attractive for future diagnostics applications. Most of the measured results, determined within an accuracy of 5%, are found to be in better agreement with HITRAN 2004 than with earlier editions of this database. Large discrepancies (>10%) between measurements and HITRAN 2004 database are identified for some of the probed transitions. These new spectroscopic data for H 2 O provide a useful test of the sensor design capabilities of HITRAN 2004 for combustion and other applications at elevated temperatures.