The ionised, radical and molecular Milky Way: spectroscopic surveys with the SKA

The bandwith, sensitivity and sheer survey speed of the SKA offers unique potential for deep spectroscopic surveys of the Milky Way. Within the frequency bands available to the SKA lie many transitions that trace the ionised, radical and molecular components of the interstellar medium and which will revolutionise our understanding of many physical processes. In this chapter we describe the impact on our understanding of the Milky Way that can be achieved by spectroscopic SKA surveys, including out of the box early science with radio recombination lines, Phase 1 surveys of the molecular ISM using anomalous formaldehyde absorption, and full SKA surveys of ammonia inversion lines.