Comparative Analysis of Spectral, Empirical Orthogonal Function, and Wavelet Decompositions for an Upwelling Event

Abstract

The recently developed wavelet transform, conventional spectral, and empirical orthogonal function decompositions have been applied to the vertical temperature profiles characterized with an isolated upwelling event and several other small-scale structures. Although empirical orthogonal function provides optimal decomposition of variance, it does not reveal much information about the transition of energy to small-scale oscillations. The localized characteristics that are not detected properly in the power spectral analysis are well represented by wavelets in the frequency?time domain.