The Kalman filter approach to inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Abstract

This article is an electronic publication in Spectrochimica Acta Electronica (SAE), the electronic section of Spectrochimica Acta Part B (SAB). The hardcopy text, comprising the main article and two appendices, is accompanied by a disk containing the compiled program, a reference manual and data files. The work deals with data handling in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). With this technique, the analyte signal is superimposed on a background signal. When separating the signals by manual or automated three-point background correction, there are many instances in which the data reduction fails. Based on scans recorded in a fast-scanning mode and on a library of pure-component scans, the Kaiman filter approach models the emission in the spectral window (about 100 pm) of the analyte and mathematically solves the problem of background correction. By using a criterion-based algorithm to correct for optical instability, the uncertainty in the determination of the interferent line signal is eliminated. Therefore, the present filter implementation yields more accurate and precise results, especially in the case of line overlap. The Kalman filter Approach to Atomic Spectrometry (KAAS) software automatically processes Perkin-Elmer Plasma 1000 2000 text files, but can also handle ASCII data files. Practical and comprehensive examples are given to evoke the “Kalman filter feeling” in the crucial step of creating the emission model.