Continuous wavelet transform applied to removing the fluctuating background in near-infrared spectra

A novel method based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) was proposed as a preprocessing tool for the near-infrared (NIR) spectra. Due to the property of the vanishing moments of the wavelet, the fluctuating background of the NIR spectra can be successfully removed through convolution of the spectra with an appropriate wavelet function. The vanishing moments of a wavelet and the scale parameter are two key factors that govern the result of the background elimination. The result of its application to both the simulated spectra and the NIR spectra of tobacco samples demonstrates that CWT is a competitive tool for removing fluctuating background in spectra.