Correlation Analysis in Space‐Time Modeling of Strong Ground Motion

Abstract

The estimation of frequency-dependent correlation functions for pairs of accelerograms is important in the analysis and modeling of the space-time variation of earthquake ground motions. Two methods of estimating the frequency-dependent correlation functions, the conventional method and the ``moving window'' approach, are reviewed. It is shown that unless certain precautions are taken the moving window approach can sometimes yield estimates that are heavily biased and hence meaningless.