Spectral signal-to-noise ratio

In scientific imaging, the two-dimensional spectral signal-to-noise ratio (SSNR) is a signal-to-noise ratio measure which measures the normalised cross-correlation coefficient between several two-dimensional images over corresponding rings in Fourier space as a function of spatial frequency. It is a multi-particle extension of the Fourier ring correlation (FRC), which is related to the Fourier shell correlation. The SSNR is a popular method for finding the resolution of a class average in cryo-electron microscopy.

Calculation

$\mathrm {SSNR} (r)={\frac {\displaystyle \sum _{r_{i}\in R}\left|\sum _{k_{i}}{F_{r_{i},k}}\right|^{2}}{\displaystyle {\frac {K}{K-1}}\sum _{r_{i}\in R}\sum _{k_{i}}{\left|{F_{r_{i},k}-{\bar {F}}_{r_{i}}}\right|^{2}}}}-1$

where $F_{r_{i},k}$ is the complex structure factor for image $k$ for a pixel $r_{i}$ at radius $R$. It is possible convert the SSNR into an equivalent FRC using the following formula:

$\mathrm {FRC} ={\frac {\mathrm {SSNR} }{\mathrm {SSNR} +1}}$

See also

• Resolution (electron density)
• Fourier shell correlation

References

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• Saxton, W.O.; W. Baumeister (1982). "The correlation averaging of a regularly arranged bacterial cell envelope protein". Journal of Microscopy. 127 (2): 127–138. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2818.1982.tb00405.x. PMID 7120365. S2CID 27206060.
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• Frank, Joachim (2006). Three-Dimnsional Electron Microscopy of Macromolecular Assemblies. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-518218-9.
• van Heel, M.; Schatz, M. (2005). "Fourier shell correlation threshold criteria". Journal of Structural Biology. 151 (3): 250–262. doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2005.05.009. PMID 16125414.