Preface
Despite being a well-established and very mature technique, near-infrared
(NIR) spectroscopy continues to demonstrate remarkable progress. New principles for instrumentation have provided cutting-edge developments within NIR
imaging, handheld instruments and laser-based techniques. As with the field of data
analysis in general, NIR spectral analysis and data treatments also continue to
demonstrate prominent advancements that only accelerate in its scope and
accomplishments. We now have instruments available that are capable of generating very high volumes of high-quality spectral data, in breath-taking speeds,
perhaps even distributed over several online measurement points, and terms such as
artificial intelligence, big data and deep learning are more and more commonly seen
as the tools used to decipher the hidden information in the spectral data. All these
advances open the pathways for the introduction of quantum chemistry to NIR
spectroscopy—a decoding and understanding for modelling chemical systems
based on quantum theory. It is now possible to imagine applications that use a
combination of NIR spectroscopy with information and communication technology, applications that uses low-power and remote-sensing laser NIR spectroscopy,
or devices incorporated in handheld instruments—maybe even embedded in our
mobile phones—all of which is contributing to some artificial intelligent-assisted
model to improve, for instance, food quality and safety for the individual consumer.
The possibilities of NIRS technology seem to be endless!
Several textbooks and handbooks on NIR spectroscopy are currently available;
they are all important books, but some of them are not up to date. We thus thought
there was an increasing demand for a new state-of-the-art textbook on NIR spectroscopy. The present book, we hope, will fill the gap and find a wide audience of
newcomers as well as experts to the exciting and versatile NIR spectroscopy
technology. The book is intended as a go-to-book for background theory, applications and tutorial work. It consists of four major parts: Introduction and
Principles, Spectral Analysis and Data Treatments, Instrumentation, and
Applications. We attempted to prepare a well-balanced book with emphasis on
underlying principles, spectral analysis and data treatments and at the same time
cover almost all areas to which NIR spectroscopy is currently applied.
v
Despite being a well-established and very mature technique, near-infrared
(NIR) spectroscopy continues to demonstrate remarkable progress. New principles for instrumentation have provided cutting-edge developments within NIR
imaging, handheld instruments and laser-based techniques. As with the field of data
analysis in general, NIR spectral analysis and data treatments also continue to
demonstrate prominent advancements that only accelerate in its scope and
accomplishments. We now have instruments available that are capable of generating very high volumes of high-quality spectral data, in breath-taking speeds,
perhaps even distributed over several online measurement points, and terms such as
artificial intelligence, big data and deep learning are more and more commonly seen
as the tools used to decipher the hidden information in the spectral data. All these
advances open the pathways for the introduction of quantum chemistry to NIR
spectroscopy—a decoding and understanding for modelling chemical systems
based on quantum theory. It is now possible to imagine applications that use a
combination of NIR spectroscopy with information and communication technology, applications that uses low-power and remote-sensing laser NIR spectroscopy,
or devices incorporated in handheld instruments—maybe even embedded in our
mobile phones—all of which is contributing to some artificial intelligent-assisted
model to improve, for instance, food quality and safety for the individual consumer.
The possibilities of NIRS technology seem to be endless!
Several textbooks and handbooks on NIR spectroscopy are currently available;
they are all important books, but some of them are not up to date. We thus thought
there was an increasing demand for a new state-of-the-art textbook on NIR spectroscopy. The present book, we hope, will fill the gap and find a wide audience of
newcomers as well as experts to the exciting and versatile NIR spectroscopy
technology. The book is intended as a go-to-book for background theory, applications and tutorial work. It consists of four major parts: Introduction and
Principles, Spectral Analysis and Data Treatments, Instrumentation, and
Applications. We attempted to prepare a well-balanced book with emphasis on
underlying principles, spectral analysis and data treatments and at the same time
cover almost all areas to which NIR spectroscopy is currently applied.
v