fwH
FWH, short for Full Width at Half Maximum (often abbreviated FWHM), is a measure used to describe the width of a peak, pulse, or distribution. It is defined as the distance between the two points on the curve where the value is equal to half of the peak’s maximum. FWHM is commonly applied to spectra, imaging point spread functions, and chromatography peaks to characterize resolution and sharpness.
For specific peak shapes, FWHM has useful relationships with fitted parameters. For a Gaussian peak f(x) =
Applications span many fields. In spectroscopy and astronomy, FWHM describes spectral line widths and instrumental resolution.
Measurement can be affected by noise, baseline drift, or peak asymmetry, so FWHM is often estimated via