HPLC: Peak height calculation
Height in HPLC simply refers to the height of the peak (= maximum value of the peak) above the baseline. The point by z1273 is right in the sense that this voltage to height conversion factor is instrument specific but this height cannot be in milliabsorbance units- it is too large for absorbance. This height is apparently &quot;intensity&quot;. Anyway, you do not need to worry about the &quot;true height&quot; for peak detection. It will be fine to use the height of 20 V for the first peak at 7.867 min. In older instruments, the detector output was displayed as Volts or mV and the manufacturer provided a conversion factor from volts to light absorbance or sometimes as intensity in the manual. See this discussion here (https://www.chromforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=6442). You should really look at modern HPLC data. The one you are showing here is from an ancient instrument.
I am assuming you are using derivatives to detect peaks? For any chromatography program, I would suggest that you do a simulation first, because all variables will be in your hand. Make a chromatogram as sum of large and small exponentially modified Gaussians or simple Gaussians of various heights and areas and add some noise to test your program.