Disclosed are apparatus, systems and methods utilizing attributes of the cardiac signal to calibrate/normalize components of the plethysmographic (PG) waveform indicating changes in venous and arterial blood volume. In the time-domain, amplitudes of respiratory-induced variations of the DC and AC components of the PG waveform may be calibrated/normalized based on an average amplitude of the PG waveform, e.g., over a respiratory cycle. Similarly, in the frequency domain, respiratory signal strength and side-band signal strength may be advantageously calibrated/normalized based on the strength of the cardiac signal or a harmonic thereof.
