SO2 is an important constituent of the atmospheres of Io and Venus. Accurate photoabsorption cross-section data at the temperatures of these planetary atmospheres are required for the interpretation of SO2 observations and for reliable photochemical models. As part of a planned series of measurements over the 160--300 K range, photoabsorption cross sections of SO2 at 295 K, in the wavelength region 198--220 nm, have been determined from very high resolution (resolving power (λ/Δλ)≈450,000) absorption spectra recorded with a vacuum ultraviolet Fourier transform spectrometer. These new measurements are compared with earlier, lower-resolution (λ/Δλ)≈100,000) photoabsorption measurements at 213 K spanning the same wavelength region, with lower-resolution (λ/Δλ)≈100,000) measurements at 295 K in a more limited region, and with a recent Doppler-limited laser diode measurement at 295 K over a very narrow wavelength region. ¿ 1999 American Geophysica