y contaminated by noise because of multiple reasons, such as
nt error, sample preparation error and sample variance. Noise
adds more difficulty of the accurate and correct estimation of a
Because the baseline of a spectrum is unknown and not in an
format and importantly contaminated by noise, estimating the
for a spectrum therefore needs special algorithms. Most baseline
n algorithms work on two parts, i.e., the error must be minimised
moothness of a baseline curve must be maximised. Therefore
very baseline estimation algorithm has to trade off between the
error) and the smoothness. A model which strengthens too much
elity will end up with a peak spectrum, in which almost no signal
etected. However, a model which strengthens too much on the
ess will end up with a peak spectrum with too many artifacts
o many false signals and missed signals. The success of accurate
scovery is thus highly related with the selection of a proper
estimation algorithm. This chapter has introduced several
estimation algorithms including the most classical ones, such as
aker-Henderson algorithm, the spline algorithm and the wavelet
and the advanced one, such as the Bayesian Whittaker-
on algorithm. One important issue of discovering signals from a
ata set with multiple replicates is the alignment of the discovered
oss replicates. This is because the signals in a spectrum will have
rtainties. First, a signal may occupy an interval on the horizontal
spectrum (the spectra analyser). Therefore identifying a unique
nalyser value for a signal needs a smoothing process. Second, a
ay have some variation across replicates regarding the spectra
values. An appropriate alignment of the discovered signals across
must be considered. This chapter has therefore introduced a
proach to align discovered peaks across replicates within the
Whittaker-Henderson algorithm.