The photon radiation in the initial state lowers the energy available for the
e+e− collisions; this effect is particularly important at LEP2 energies
(above the mass of the Z boson). Being aligned to the beam direction, such
initial state radiation is mostly undetected. This article describes the
procedure used by the DELPHI experiment at LEP to estimate the effective
centre-of-mass energy in hadronic events collected at energies above the Z
peak. Typical resolutions ranging from 2 to 3 GeV on the effective
center-of-mass energy are achieved, depending on the event topology.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure