EXTENDED KALMAN FILTER FOR MULTIWAVELENGTH, MULTICOMPONENT KINETIC DETERMINATIONS

An extended Kalman filter has been applied to extract concentration da ta from multicomponent kinetic data obtained at several wavelengths wi th varying amounts of spectral overlap of the products. Simulations ar e used to show the effect of different variables on the results obtain ed by the filter. The effects of random noise and initial rate constan t estimates on the results are discussed. If spectral differences are sufficient, accurate estimates of concentration are obtained even if t he two rate constants in a two-component system are identical. Other f actors affecting the estimates of the filter are discussed. The extend ed Kalman filter is shown to be an excellent data analysis method for multicomponent kinetic determinations.