EXTENDED KALMAN FILTER FOR MULTIWAVELENGTH, MULTICOMPONENT KINETIC DETERMINATIONS

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