Estimation of stellar metal abundance. II. A recalibration of the Ca II K technique, and the autocorrelation function method

We have recalibrated a method for the estimation of stellar metal abundance , parameterized as [Fe/H], based on medium-resolution (1-2 Angstrom) optica l spectra (the majority of which cover the wavelength range 3700-4500 Angst rom). The equivalent width of the Ca II K line (3933 Angstrom) as a functio n of [Fe/H] and broadband B-V color, as predicted from spectrum synthesis a nd model atmosphere calculations, is compared with observations of 551 star s with high-resolution abundances available from the literature (a sevenfol d increase in the number of calibration stars that were previously availabl e). A second method, based on the Fourier autocorrelation function techniqu e first described by Ratnatunga & Freeman, is used to provide an independen t estimate of [Fe/H], as calibrated by comparison with 405 standard-star ab undances. Metallicities based on a combination of the two techniques for dw arfs and giants in the color range 0.30 less than or equal to (B - V)(0) le ss than or equal to 1.2 exhibit an external 1 sigma scatter of approximatel y 0.10-0.20 dex over the abundance range -4.0 less than or equal to [Fe/H] less than or equal to 0.5. Particular attention has been given to the deter mination of abundance estimates at the metal-rich end of the calibration, w here our previous attempt suffered from a considerable zero-point offset. R adial velocities, accurate to approximately 10 km s(-1), are reported for a ll 551 calibration stars.