Ocean Optics DTS - Manual (Page 52)

Chapter 6
6-6 Polychromix DTS TM Near-Infrared Spectrometer
Operator’s Manual
Document Number 04-91-0201-00 Rev A
6.4 Spectrum Averaging
If the spectrum is noisy, it may be possible to reduce the noise by increasing
the number of scans. As an example, Figure 6-1 presents a single reflectance
spectrum (blue) and the average of 16 spectra (black) taken from an aspirin
tablet. It is clear that the noise is reduced by averaging: as an example, see
the region from ca 1430 nm to 1630 nm. As a rough rule of thumb, the noise
reduction obtained by averaging spectra is approximately equal to the square
root of the number of scans that are averaged.
Figure 6-1: Spectral Averaging