  Non-Gaussian noise transients in interferometric gravitational-wave detectors
increase the background in searches for short-duration and un-modelled signals.
We describe a method for vetoing noise transients by ranking the statistical
relationship between triggers in auxiliary channels that have negligible
sensitivity to gravitational waves and putative gravitational-wave triggers in
the detector output. The novelty of the algorithm lies in its hierarchical
approach, which leads to a minimal set of veto conditions with high performance
and low deadtime. After a given channel has been selected it is used to veto
triggers from the detector output, then the algorithm selects a new channel
that performs well on the remaining triggers and the process is repeated. This
method has been demonstrated to reduce the background in searches for transient
gravitational waves by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations.
