  We present a new model of the three-dimensional distribution of molecular gas
in the Milky Way Galaxy, based on CO line data. Our analysis is based on a
gas-flow simulation of the inner Galaxy using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics
(SPH) using a realistic barred gravitional potential derived from the observed
COBE/DIRBE near-IR light distribution. The gas model prescribes the gas orbits
much better than a simple circular rotation model and is highly constrained by
observations, but it cannot predict local details. In this study, we provide a
3D map of the observed molecular gas distribution using the velocity field from
the SPH model. A comparison with studies of the Galactic Center region suggests
that the main structures are reproduced but somewhat stretched along the
line-of-sight, probably on account of limited resolution of the underlying SPH
simulation. The gas model will be publicly available and may prove useful in a
number of applications, among them the analysis of diffuse gamma-ray emission
as measured with GLAST.
