Estimation of uncertainties in XAFS data

The estimate of measurement uncertainties in XAFS spectra is one of the most important and difficult aspects of error analysis for XAFS data. Since several different analysis methods are used to determine structural parameters and their uncertainties from XAFS data, and no universally agreed-upon standard exists, the ability to compare estimates of uncertainties from different methods is vital. We discuss numerical aspects of the propagation of measurement uncertainties from raw absorption coefficient to analyzed signal in k- and R-space. We focus our attention on the conversion of measurement uncertainties between k- and R-space representations of XAFS data, and on the testing of this conversion procedure for data dominated by random fluctuations.