def DER_SNR(flux):
    """
   DESCRIPTION This function computes the signal to noise ratio DER_SNR following the
               definition set forth by the Spectral Container Working Group of ST-ECF,
	       MAST and CADC. 

               signal = median(flux)      
               noise  = 1.482602 / sqrt(6) median(abs(2 flux_i - flux_i-2 - flux_i+2))
	       snr    = signal / noise
               values with padded zeros are skipped

   USAGE       snr = DER_SNR(flux)
   PARAMETERS  none
   INPUT       flux (the computation is unit independent)
   OUTPUT      the estimated signal-to-noise ratio [dimensionless]
   USES        numpy      
   NOTES       The DER_SNR algorithm is an unbiased estimator describing the spectrum 
	       as a whole as long as
               * the noise is uncorrelated in wavelength bins spaced two pixels apart
               * the noise is Normal distributed
               * for large wavelength regions, the signal over the scale of 5 or
	         more pixels can be approximated by a straight line
 
               For most spectra, these conditions are met.

   REFERENCES  * ST-ECF Newsletter, Issue #42:
               www.spacetelescope.org/about/further_information/newsletters/html/newsletter_42.html
               * Software:
	       www.stecf.org/software/ASTROsoft/DER_SNR/
   AUTHOR      Felix Stoehr, ST-ECF
               24.05.2007, fst, initial import
               01.01.2007, fst, added more help text
               28.04.2010, fst, return value is a float now instead of a numpy.float64
   """
    from numpy import array, where, median, abs
    flux = array(flux)
    flux = array(flux[where(flux != 0.0)])
    n = len(flux)
    if n > 4:
        signal = median(flux)
        noise = 0.6052697 * median(abs(2.0 * flux[2:n - 2] - flux[0:n - 4] -
            flux[4:n]))
        return float(signal / noise)
    else:
        return 0.0
