Compression of an Infrared Spectral Library by Karhunen-Loeve Transformation

Abstract
A data compression technique using factor analysis and the Karhunen-Loeve transformation has been applied to a library of vapor phase infrared spectra. Application of the compression algorithm results in a fivefold reduction in storage requirements for the spectral library and a corresponding reduction in search time. A search system based on the compression data has been evaluated and found to compare favorably with a search using the entire spectrum.