This paper presents a new method for the estimation of oceanic surface velocity fields using wavelet decomposition of Sea Surface Temperature images (SST). This method requires the use of two SST images of the same region taken within a known time interval. Wavelet decompositions are performed on both images to obtain approximations that will be compared for local displacements. These local displacements are smoothed to eliminate noise and to generate a rough initial estimate of the velocity field. Then this estimate is iteratively refined by a similar analysis over more detailed images produced by inverse wavelet transforms. A description of the method and its assumptions are presented with initial results.

Date Published: 22 March 1999
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 3723, Wavelet Applications VI, (22 March 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.342920

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3723:
Wavelet Applications VI
Harold H. Szu, Editor(s)