The `seed-skewness' integration method generalized for three-dimensional Bragg peaks

The integration of the three-dimensional profile of each node of the reciprocal lattice without an a priori modelling of the shape of the reflections is a prerequisite in order to improve the capability of area detectors in diffraction studies. Bolotovsky et al. [J. Appl. Cryst. (1995), 28, 86-95] published a new method of area-detector peak integration based on a statistical analysis of pixel intensities and suggested its generalization for processing of high-resolution three-dimensional electronic detector data. This has been done in the present work, respecting the special requirements of data collected from neutron diffraction. The results are compared with other integration methods. It is shown that the seed-skewness method is successful in giving very reliable results and simultaneously optimizes the standard deviations. The integration procedures are applied to real data, which are refined and compared with benchmark results.