“Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography” is a unique and valuable reference text for students, instructors, and researchers who either work directly with oceanographic data or need a working knowledge of data collection and analysis products. The book provides an unusual breadth of coverage with a rich oceanographic context. The traditional topics of probability, statistics, and time series analysis are combined with discussions of specialized, yet routinely applied, methods such as estimation of principal axes, computation of vertical normal modes, and rotary spectral analysis. Brief reviews of subjects not covered in traditional time series analysis texts, such as inverse methods, wavelets, and fractals, are also included. Several other gems, such as sections on dependent samples, error detection, and interpolation round out the presentation. Oceanographic context is provided by a large number of examples. All are from the geophysical sciences, and the vast majority are from physical oceanography. Thus, the reader may simultaneously learn about an analysis method, note how it performs when applied to real data, and gain exposure to relevant oceanographic phenomena (e.g. coastal trapped waves along the Australian coast or sea level oscillations in the western Pacific).

Plueddemann, A. 1999. Review of Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography, by W.J. Emery and R.E. Thomson. Oceanography 12(3):53–54, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1999.18.

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