Precise radial velocities of giant stars III. Spectroscopic stellar parameters

Context. A radial velocity survey of about 380 G and K giant stars is ongoing at Lick observatory. For each star we have a high signal to noise ratio template spectrum, which we use to determine spectroscopic stellar parameters. Aims. The aim of this paper is to present spectroscopic stellar parameters, i.e. effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity and rotational velocity for our sample of G and K giant stars. Methods. Effective temperatures, surface gravities and metallicities are determined from the equivalent width of iron lines, by imposing excitation and ionisation equilibrium through stellar atmosphere models. Rotational velocities are determined from the full width at half maximum ( FWHM) of moderate spectral lines. A calibration between the FWHM and total broadening (rotational velocity and macro turbulence) is obtained from stars in common between our sample and the sample from Gray (1989, ApJ, 347, 1021). Macro turbulence is determined from the macro turbulence vs. spectral type relations from Gray (2005, The Observation and Analysis of Stellar Photospheres). Results. The metallicity we derive is essentially equal to the literature values, while the effective temperature and surface gravity are slightly higher by 56 K and 0.15 dex, respectively. A method comparison is performed with 72 giants in common with Luck & Heiter (2007, AJ, 133, 2464), which shows that both methods give similar results. Our rotational velocities are comparable with those obtained by Gray (1989, ApJ, 347, 1021), but somewhat higher than those of de Medeiros & Mayor (1999, A&AS, 139, 433), which is consistent with the different diagnostics used to determine them. Conclusions. We are able to determine spectroscopic stellar parameters for about 380 G and K giant stars uniformly (112 stars are being analysed spectroscopically for the first time). For stars available in the literature, we find reasonable agreement between literature values and values determined in the present work. In addition, we show that the metallicity enhancement of companion hosting stars might also be valid for giant stars, with the planet hosting giants being 0.13 \pm 0.03 dex (i.e. 35 \pm 10%) more metal rich than our total sample of stars.