Continuous component determination in γ-ray spectra

A method has been developed for an accurate estimation of the continuum of high-resolution γ-ray spectra. The result is a computer program, COSPAJ, which calculates a function that represents the entire continuous spectral component. Determining the base line under full-energy peaks is the direct application of this program. We show that our method is suitable for a wide variety of features including those affecting low radionuclide activities in environmental samples where the influence of background level and shape is higher.