De-Trending Time Series Data for Variability Surveys

We present an algorithm for the removal of trends in time series data. The trends could be caused by various systematic and random noise sources such as cloud passages, change of airmass or CCD noise. In order to determine the trends, we select template stars based on a hierarchical clustering algorithm. The hierarchy tree is constructed using the similarity matrix of light curves of stars whose elements are the Pearson correlation values. A new bottom-up merging algorithm is developed to extract clusters of template stars that are highly correlated among themselves, and may thus be used to identify the trends. We then use the multiple linear regression method to de-trend all individual light curves based on these determined trends. Experimental results with simulated light curves which contain artificial trends and events are presented. We also applied our algorithm to TAOS (Taiwan-American Occultation Survey) wide field data observed with a 0.5m f/1.9 telescope equipped with 2k by 2k CCD. With our approach, we successfully removed trends and increased signal to noise in TAOS light curves.