In structural biology, the three-dimensional Fourier shell correlation (FSC) measures the normalised cross-correlation coefficient between two 3-dimensional volumes over corresponding shells in Fourier space (i.e., as a function of spatial frequency). The FSC is the three-dimensional extension of the two-dimensional Fourier ring correlation (FRC); also known as: spatial frequency correlation function.
Calculation
where
The FSC originated in cryo-electron microscopy and gradually proliferated to other fields. To measure the FSC, two independently determined 3D volumes are required. In cryo-electron microscopy, the two volumes are the result of two three-dimensional reconstructions, each based on half of the available data set. Typically, the even particle images form one half and the odd particles the other half of the data set. Most publications quote the FSC 0.5 resolution cutoff, which ad hoc criterion refers to when the correlation coefficient of the Fourier shells is equal to 0.5. However, determining the resolution threshold remains a controversial issue: fixed-value thresholds were argued to be based on incorrect statistical assumptions. Many other criteria using the FSC curve exist, including 3-σ criterion, 5-σ criterion, and the 0.143 cutoff. The half-bit criterion indicates at which resolution we have collected enough information to reliably interpret the 3-dimensional volume, and the (modified) 3-sigma criterion indicates where the FSC systematically emerges above the expected random correlations of the background noise.