The reduction of panoramic photometry. III - an asymmetric clipping algorithm
K. U. Ratnatunga, E. B. Newell · The Astronomical Journal · 1984
The authors describe an asymmetric clipping algorithm that is capable of producing relatively unbiased intensity estimates from data that suffer perturbations from a wide range of defects. This algorithm takes account of the positive skewness, introduced into the intensity frequency function by most defects, by iteratively clipping only the upper (high intensity) side of the data; the clipping function has the shape of the intensity frequency function that would be derived from the data in the absence of defects. The authors show that the asymmetric clipping algorithm provides a suitable basis for a generalized, automatic, surface-photometry procedure that is essentially model independent.