Open AccessEstimating Unknown Cycles in Geophysical Data
Author(s) -
Shi Xueheng,
Gallagher Colin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
earth and space science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.843
H-Index - 23
ISSN - 2333-5084
DOI - 10.1029/2018ea000451
Subject(s) - series (stratigraphy) , data set , period (music) , set (abstract data type) , geophysics , time series , geology , meteorology , climatology , computer science , mathematics , statistics , geography , physics , paleontology , acoustics , programming language
Examples of cyclic (periodic) behavior in geophysical data abound. In many cases the primary period is known, such as in daily measurements of rain, temperature, and sea level. However, many time series of measurements contain cycles of unknown or varying length. We consider the problem of estimating the unknown period in a time series. We review the basic methods, compare their performance through a simulation study using observed sea level data, apply them to an astronomical data set, and discuss generalizations of the methods.