Selective iteratively reweighted quantile regression for baseline correction.

Extraction of qualitative and quantitative information from large numbers of analytical signals is difficult with drifted baselines, particularly in multivariate analysis. Baseline drift obscures and "fuzzies" signals, and even deteriorates analytical results. In order to obtain accurate and clear results, some effective methods should be proposed and implemented to perform baseline correction before conducting further data analysis. However, most of the classic methods require user intervention or are prone to variability, especially with low signal-to-noise signals. In this study, a novel baseline correction algorithm based on quantile regression and iteratively reweighting strategy is proposed. This does not require user intervention and prior information, such as peak detection. The iteratively reweighting strategy iteratively changes weights of residuals between fitted baseline and original signals. After a series of tests and comparisons with several other popular methods, using various kinds of analytical signals, the proposed method is found to be fast, flexible, robust, and easy to use both in simulated and real datasets.