Intensity Conserving Spectral Fitting

Abstract

The detailed shapes of spectral-line profiles provide valuable information about the emitting plasma, especially when the plasma contains an unresolved mixture of velocities, temperatures, and densities. As a result of finite spectral resolution, the intensity measured by a spectrometer is the average intensity across a wavelength bin of non-zero size. It is assigned to the wavelength position at the center of the bin. However, the actual intensity at that discrete position will be different if the profile is curved, as it invariably is. Standard fitting routines (spline, Gaussian, etc.) do not account for this difference, and this can result in significant errors when making sensitive measurements. We have developed an iterative procedure that corrects for this effect. It converges rapidly and is very flexible in that it can be used with any fitting function. We present examples of cubic-spline and Gaussian fits and give special attention to measurements of blue-red asymmetries of coronal emission lines.