Application of Wavelet Spectrum Analysis to Horizontal Structure of Sea Surface Temperature

Two-dimensional wavelet spectrum analysis is applied to Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) images from the NOAA meteorological satellites in the area around Japan to unfold the horizontal structure of SST into space and scale (wavenumber), which can yield localized space-wavenumber information. The results reveal significantly new and previously unexplored insights on horizontal structure of sea surface temperature, which cannot be revealed using a traditional Fourier transform approach.