Least square ellipsoid fitting using iterative orthogonal transformations

We describe a generalised method for ellipsoid fitting against a minimum set of data points. The proposed method is numerically stable and applies to a wide range of ellipsoidal shapes, including highly elongated and arbitrarily oriented ellipsoids. This new method also provides for the retrieval of rotational angle and length of semi-axes of the fitted ellipsoids accurately. We demonstrate the efficacy of this algorithm on simulated data sets and also indicate its potential use in gravitational wave data analysis. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.