Patent ID: 7943915

Claim:
A method of calibrating a wavelength-modulation spectroscopy apparatus configured to measure a concentration of an analyte in a sample gas, said method comprising the steps of: determining a first slope coefficient corresponding to a reference pressure of a first sample gas and a reference temperature of said first sample gas, and determining an intercept coefficient reflecting contribution from the noise floor, said determinations based on a first plurality of harmonic spectra of known concentrations of said analyte at said reference pressure and said reference temperature of said first sample gas; determining a plurality of values of a temperature-dependent constant reflecting spectral line intensity and determining a plurality of values of an effective pressure-broadening coefficient at a plurality of values of temperature of said first sample gas, said determinations based on said intercept coefficient and a second plurality of harmonic spectra of one or more known concentrations of said analyte at said plurality of values of temperature of said first sample gas; determining a temperature-dependence exponent of said effective pressure-broadening coefficient for said first sample gas; and determining a plurality of values of a calibration function for said first sample gas, said determination based on said plurality of values of said temperature-dependent constant and a plurality of effective pressure-broadening coefficient values computed based on said temperature-dependence exponent.