WAVELET ANALYSIS FOR GEOPHYSICAL APPLICATIONS

Wavelet transforms originated in geophysics in the early 1980s for the analysis of seismic signals. Since then, significant mathematical adv ances in wavelet theory have enabled a suite of applications in divers e fields. In geophysics the power of wavelets for analysis of nonstati onary processes that contain multiscale features, detection of singula rities, analysis of transient phenomena, fractal and multifractal proc esses, and signal compression is now being exploited for the study of several processes including space-time precipitation, remotely sensed hydrologic fluxes, atmospheric turbulence, canopy cover, land surface topography, seafloor bathymetry, and ocean wind waves. It is anticipat ed that in the near future, significant further advances in understand ing and modeling geophysical processes will result from the use of wav elet analysis. In this paper we review the basic properties of wavelet s that make them such an attractive and powerful tool for geophysical applications, We discuss continuous, discrete, orthogonal wavelets and wavelet packets and present applications to geophysical processes.