Hilbert Proper Orthogonal Decomposition: a tool for educing advective wavepackets from flow field data
Pith reviewed 2026-05-19 06:46 UTC · model grok-4.3
The pith
Hilbert proper orthogonal decomposition extracts modulated travelling wavepackets from advective flow data via the Hilbert transform.
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
Core claim
The central claim is that the Hilbert proper orthogonal decomposition (HPOD), formed as a complex-valued extension of proper orthogonal decomposition using the Hilbert transform, distils advective wavepackets from flow field data. These wavepackets appear as structures with amplitude and frequency modulation in both time and space. The space-only HPOD, which replaces temporal operations with spatial ones along the advection direction, is mathematically equivalent to the conventional time-based version. When applied to a laminar bluff-body wake, a turbulent jet large-eddy simulation, and experimental particle image velocimetry data, both versions produce essentially identical complex-valued,,
What carries the argument
The Hilbert transform applied to the flow dataset to form its analytic signal, then inserted into the proper orthogonal decomposition to isolate modulated travelling waves.
Load-bearing premise
Advective flow features can be represented as modulated travelling waves whose analytic signal is recovered by the Hilbert transform applied either in time or along the advection direction.
What would settle it
Apply both the conventional and space-only HPOD to a single temporally well-resolved dataset of a known advective wavepacket flow and check whether the extracted structures differ substantially in their modulation or propagation properties.
Figures
read the original abstract
Travelling wavepackets are key coherent features contributing to the dynamics of several advective flows. This work introduces the Hilbert proper orthogonal decomposition (HPOD) to distil these features from flow field data, leveraging their mathematical representation as modulated travelling waves. The HPOD is a complex-valued extension of the proper orthogonal decomposition, where the Hilbert transform of the dataset is used to compute its analytic signal. Two versions of the technique are explored and compared: the conventional HPOD, computing the analytic signal in time; a novel space-only HPOD, computing it along the advection direction. The HPOD is shown to extract wavepackets with amplitude and frequency modulation in time and space. Its broadband nature offers an alternative to spectrally-pure decompositions when instantaneous, local wave characteristics are important. The space-only version, leveraging space/time equivalence in travelling waves to swap temporal operations by spatial ones, is proved mathematically equivalent to its conventional counterpart. The two HPOD versions are characterized and validated on three datasets ordered by complexity: a 2D-DNS of a laminar bluff-body wake with periodic vortex shedding; an LES of a turbulent jet with intermittent, highly modulated wavepackets; and a 2D-PIV of a turbulent jet with measurement errors and no temporal resolution. In advecting flows, both HPOD versions deliver practically identical complex-valued advecting wavepacket structures, characterized by spatiotemporal amplification and decay, wave modulation and intermittency phenomena in turbulent flow cases, such as in turbulent jets. The space-only variant allows to extract these structures from temporally under-resolved datasets, typical of snapshot particle image velocimetry.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The paper introduces Hilbert Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (HPOD) as a complex-valued extension of POD for extracting advective wavepackets from flow data, representing them as modulated travelling waves via the analytic signal obtained from the Hilbert transform. It develops a conventional time-based version and a novel space-only version that applies the Hilbert transform along the advection direction. A mathematical equivalence proof is provided for the two versions by interchanging temporal and spatial operations under the travelling-wave ansatz. The method is validated on three datasets of increasing complexity: 2D DNS of a laminar bluff-body wake with periodic shedding, LES of a turbulent jet with intermittent modulated wavepackets, and temporally under-resolved 2D PIV of a turbulent jet. Both versions are shown to recover wavepackets exhibiting spatiotemporal amplification/decay, frequency modulation, and intermittency, with the space-only variant enabling extraction from snapshot PIV data.
Significance. If the central claims hold, HPOD supplies a broadband alternative to spectrally narrow decompositions when local instantaneous wave characteristics matter in advective flows. The explicit mathematical equivalence proof between time-HPOD and space-only HPOD is a clear strength, as is the systematic validation across laminar-to-turbulent and resolved-to-under-resolved datasets. The space-only formulation could meaningfully extend wavepacket analysis to common experimental PIV configurations lacking temporal resolution.
major comments (1)
- [Equivalence proof and §5.2–5.3] The equivalence proof (detailed after the method introduction, prior to the validation sections) starts from the ideal travelling-wave representation f(x,t) = Re[A(x-Ut) exp(i k (x-Ut))] with constant convection speed U. In the turbulent jet cases (LES §5.2 and PIV §5.3), local convection velocity varies spatially while wavepackets are intermittent and modulated in both space and time; under these conditions the time and space Hilbert operators do not commute exactly. The manuscript reports that the extracted structures are “practically identical,” but this observation alone does not establish rigorous interchangeability. Please either extend the proof to spatially varying U or supply quantitative metrics (e.g., normalized L2 difference or modal inner product between corresponding time-HPOD and space-HPOD modes) for the turbulent datasets.
minor comments (2)
- [Abstract] The abstract states that the method extracts wavepackets “with amplitude and frequency modulation in time and space,” yet no explicit quantitative measures (e.g., modulation indices or correlation with reference signals) are summarized; adding one or two such metrics would improve the abstract’s informativeness.
- [Validation sections] In the validation sections, the comparison between HPOD variants would benefit from a short table of similarity metrics (inner products, phase differences) rather than relying solely on visual inspection of mode shapes.
Simulated Author's Rebuttal
We thank the referee for their careful reading of the manuscript and for the positive overall assessment. We address the major comment point by point below.
read point-by-point responses
-
Referee: [Equivalence proof and §5.2–5.3] The equivalence proof (detailed after the method introduction, prior to the validation sections) starts from the ideal travelling-wave representation f(x,t) = Re[A(x-Ut) exp(i k (x-Ut))] with constant convection speed U. In the turbulent jet cases (LES §5.2 and PIV §5.3), local convection velocity varies spatially while wavepackets are intermittent and modulated in both space and time; under these conditions the time and space Hilbert operators do not commute exactly. The manuscript reports that the extracted structures are “practically identical,” but this observation alone does not establish rigorous interchangeability. Please either extend the proof to spatially varying U or supply quantitative metrics (e.g., normalized L2 difference or modal inner product between corresponding time-HPOD and space-HPOD modes) for the turbulent datasets.
Authors: We agree that the equivalence is derived under the constant-convection-speed travelling-wave ansatz. In the turbulent jet cases the local velocity varies and the operators therefore do not commute exactly. The manuscript currently relies on visual agreement of the extracted structures. To strengthen the claim we will add, in the revised manuscript, quantitative comparisons for both the LES and PIV datasets: the normalized L2 difference between corresponding time-HPOD and space-HPOD modes together with their modal inner products. These metrics will be reported in §5.2 and §5.3. Extending the analytic proof to a spatially varying U would require a substantially more general framework that relaxes the constant-speed assumption; we therefore elect to supply the requested quantitative evidence instead. revision: yes
Circularity Check
No significant circularity; equivalence proof is self-contained mathematical derivation
full rationale
The paper's central derivation establishes mathematical equivalence between conventional (time-Hilbert) HPOD and space-only (streamwise-Hilbert) HPOD by invoking the space/time equivalence property of travelling waves, which is a standard analytic property of the Hilbert transform applied to advective signals of the form f(x,t) = Re[A(x-Ut)exp(i k (x-Ut))]. This is presented as an explicit proof rather than a reduction to fitted parameters, self-citations, or ansatz smuggling. Validation proceeds on independent datasets (DNS wake, LES jet, PIV jet) without the target result being presupposed in the inputs. No load-bearing self-citation chains or renaming of known results appear; the method is introduced as a direct complex-valued extension of POD. The derivation remains self-contained against external benchmarks.
Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger
axioms (1)
- domain assumption Advective flow features can be represented as modulated travelling waves
Forward citations
Cited by 1 Pith paper
-
Disentangling coherent structures and the origin of swirl-switching
FHPOD and local stability analysis show swirl-switching at Strouhal 0.13 as an intrinsic instability of bent-pipe mean flow, with bend and downstream modes arising from distinct mechanisms.
Reference graph
Works this paper leans on
-
[1]
Alessio, S. , Longhetto, A. & Meixia, L. 1999 The space and time features of global SST anomalies studied by complex principal component analysis . Adv. Atmos. Sci. 16 , 1--23
work page 1999
-
[2]
1991 On the hidden beauty of the proper orthogonal decomposition
Aubry, N. 1991 On the hidden beauty of the proper orthogonal decomposition . Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn. 2 (5), 339--352
work page 1991
-
[3]
Aubry, N. , Guyonnet, R. & Lima, R. 1991 Spatiotemporal analysis of complex signals: theory and applications . J. Stat. Phys. 64 , 683--739
work page 1991
-
[4]
Barnett, T. P. 1983 Interaction of the monsoon and pacific trade wind system at interannual time scales part I : The equatorial zone . Mon. Weather Rev. 111 (4), 756--773
work page 1983
-
[5]
Barnett, T. P. 1984 a\/ Interaction of the monsoon and pacific trade wind system at interannual time scales part II : The tropical band . Mon. Weather Rev. 112 (12), 2380--2387
work page 1984
-
[6]
Barnett, T. P. 1984 b\/ Interaction of the monsoon and pacific trade wind system at interannual time scales. part III : A partial anatomy of the southern oscillation . Mon. Weather Rev. 112 (12), 2388--2400
work page 1984
-
[7]
Ben Chiekh, M. , Michard, M. , Grosjean, N. & Bera, J. C. 2004 Reconstruction temporelle d’un champ a \'e rodynamique instationnaire \`a partir de mesures piv non r \'e solues dans le temps . Proceedings of 9 \`e me Congr \`e s Francophone de V \'e locim \'e trie Laser, Brussels, Belgium
work page 2004
-
[8]
Berkooz, G. , Holmes, P. & Lumley, J. L. 1993 The proper orthogonal decomposition in the analysis of turbulent flows . Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 25 (1), 539--575
work page 1993
- [9]
-
[10]
Boree, J. 2003 Extended proper orthogonal decomposition: a tool to analyse correlated events in turbulent flows . Exp. Fluids 35 (2), 188--192
work page 2003
-
[11]
Brunton, S. L. & Kutz, J. N. 2022 Data-driven science and engineering: Machine learning, dynamical systems, and control\/ . Cambridge University Press
work page 2022
- [12]
-
[13]
Cavalieri, A. V. G. , Jordan, P. & Lesshafft, L. 2019 Wave-packet models for jet dynamics and sound radiation . Appl. Mech. Rev. 71 (2), 020802
work page 2019
-
[14]
Discetti, S. , Raiola, M. & Ianiro, A. 2018 Estimation of time-resolved turbulent fields through correlation of non-time-resolved field measurements and time-resolved point measurements . Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 93 , 119--130
work page 2018
-
[15]
Ek, H. M , Nair, V. , Douglas, C. M. , Lieuwen, T. C. & Emerson, B. L. 2022 Permuted proper orthogonal decomposition for analysis of advecting structures . J. Fluid Mech. 930 , A14
work page 2022
-
[16]
Encinar, M. P. & Jim \'e nez, J. 2020 Momentum transfer by linearised eddies in turbulent channel flows . J. Fluid Mech. 895 , A23
work page 2020
-
[17]
Feeny, B. F. 2008 A complex orthogonal decomposition for wave motion analysis . J. Sound Vib. 310 (1-2), 77--90
work page 2008
-
[18]
Glavaski, S. , Marsden, J. E. & Murray, R. M. 1998 Model reduction, centering, and the karhunen-loeve expansion. In Proceedings of the 37 th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (Cat. No. 98CH36171)\/ , , vol. 2 , pp. 2071--2076 . IEEE
work page 1998
-
[19]
Grenander, Ulf 1958 Toeplitz forms and their applications\/ . Univ of California Press
work page 1958
-
[20]
Hahn, S. L. 1996 Hilbert Transforms in Signal Processing\/ . Artech House
work page 1996
-
[21]
Horel, J. D. 1984 Complex principal component analysis: Theory and examples . J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol. 23 (12), 1660--1673
work page 1984
-
[22]
Hosseini, Z. , Martinuzzi, R. J. & Noack, B. R. 2015 Sensor-based estimation of the velocity in the wake of a low-aspect-ratio pyramid . Exp. Fluids 56 , 1--16
work page 2015
-
[23]
Jaunet, V. , Collin, E. & Delville, J. 2016 POD - G alerkin advection model for convective flow: application to a flapping rectangular supersonic jet . Exp. Fluids 57 , 1--13
work page 2016
-
[24]
2018 Coherent structures in wall-bounded turbulence
Jim \'e nez, J. 2018 Coherent structures in wall-bounded turbulence . J. Fluid Mech. 842 , P1
work page 2018
-
[25]
Jordan, P. & Colonius, T. 2013 Wave packets and turbulent jet noise . Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 45 , 173--195
work page 2013
-
[26]
Koopman, Bernard O 1931 Hamiltonian systems and transformation in H ilbert space . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 17 (5), 315--318
work page 1931
-
[27]
Kriegseis, J. , Kinzel, M. & Nobach, H. 2021 Hilbert transform revisited--proper orthogonal decomposition applied to analytical signals of flow fields. In 14 th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry\/ , , vol. 1
work page 2021
-
[28]
Leroy-Calatayud, P. , Pezzulla, M. , Keiser, A. , Mulleners, K. & Reis, P. M. 2022 Tapered foils favor traveling-wave kinematics to enhance the performance of flapping propulsion . Phys. Rev. Fluids 7 (7), 074403
work page 2022
-
[29]
Lumley, J. L. 1967 The structure of inhomogeneous turbulent flows . Atmospheric turbulence and radio wave propagation pp. 166--178
work page 1967
-
[30]
Lumley, J. L. 1970 Stochastic tools in turbulence\/ . Academic Press
work page 1970
-
[31]
Mathis, R. , Hutchins, N. & Marusic, I. 2009 Large-scale amplitude modulation of the small-scale structures in turbulent boundary layers . J. Fluid Mech. 628 , 311--337
work page 2009
-
[32]
Mendez, M. A. , Balabane, M. & Buchlin, J.-M. 2019 Multi-scale proper orthogonal decomposition of complex fluid flows . J. Fluid Mech. 870 , 988--1036
work page 2019
-
[33]
Merrifield, M. A. & Guza, R. T. 1990 Detecting propagating signals with complex empirical orthogonal functions: A cautionary note . J. Phys. Oceanogr. 20 (10), 1628--1633
work page 1990
-
[34]
2013 Analysis of fluid flows via spectral properties of the K oopman operator
Mezi \'c , I. 2013 Analysis of fluid flows via spectral properties of the K oopman operator . Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 45 (1), 357--378
work page 2013
-
[35]
Nair, A. G. , Brunton, S. L. & Taira, K. 2018 Networked-oscillator-based modeling and control of unsteady wake flows . Phys. Rev. E 97 (6), 063107
work page 2018
-
[36]
Perry, A. E. , Chong, M. S. & Lim, T. T. 1982 The vortex-shedding process behind two-dimensional bluff bodies . J. Fluid Mech. 116 , 77--90
work page 1982
-
[37]
Pfeffer, R. L. , Ahlquist, J. , Kung, R. , Chang, Y. & Li, G. 1990 A study of baroclinic wave behavior over bottom topography using complex principal component analysis of experimental data . J. Atmos. Sci. 47 (1), 67--81
work page 1990
-
[38]
Raiola, M. , Ianiro, A. & Discetti, S. 2016 Wake of tandem cylinders near a wall . Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 78 , 354--369
work page 2016
-
[39]
Raiola, M. & Ragni, D. 2019 Dynamic behaviour of wave packets in turbulent jets. In Proceedings of the 13 th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry\/ (ed. Christian J. Kähler, Rainer Hain, S. Scharnowski & T. Fuchs )
work page 2019
-
[40]
Reiss, J. , Schulze, P. , Sesterhenn, J. & Mehrmann, V. 2018 The shifted proper orthogonal decomposition: A mode decomposition for multiple transport phenomena . SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 40 (3), A1322--A1344
work page 2018
-
[41]
Rowley, C. W. , Colonius, T. & Murray, R. M. 2004 Model reduction for compressible flows using POD and G alerkin projection . Phys. D: Nonlinear Phenom. 189 (1-2), 115--129
work page 2004
-
[42]
Rowley, C. W. & Dawson, S. T. M. 2017 Model reduction for flow analysis and control . Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 49 (1), 387--417
work page 2017
-
[43]
Rowley, C. W. , Kevrekidis, I. G. , Marsden, J. E. & Lust, K. 2003 Reduction and reconstruction for self-similar dynamical systems . Nonlinearity 16 (4), 1257
work page 2003
-
[44]
Rowley, C. W. & Marsden, J. E. 2000 Reconstruction equations and the K arhunen-- L o \`e ve expansion for systems with symmetry . Phys. D: Nonlinear Phenom. 142 (1-2), 1--19
work page 2000
-
[45]
Schmid, P. J. 2010 Dynamic mode decomposition of numerical and experimental data . J. Fluid Mech. 656 , 5--28
work page 2010
-
[46]
Schmidt, O. T. & Colonius, T. 2020 Guide to spectral proper orthogonal decomposition . AIAA J. 58 (3), 1023--1033
work page 2020
-
[47]
Sesterhenn, J. & Shahirpour, A. 2019 A characteristic dynamic mode decomposition . Theor. Comp. Fluid Dyn. 33 , 281--305
work page 2019
-
[48]
Sieber, M. , Paschereit, C. O. & Oberleithner, K. 2016 Spectral proper orthogonal decomposition . J. Fluid Mech. 792 , 798--828
work page 2016
-
[49]
1987 Turbulence and the dynamics of coherent structures
Sirovich, L. 1987 Turbulence and the dynamics of coherent structures. i. coherent structures . Q. Appl. Math. 45 (3), 561--571
work page 1987
-
[50]
Sreenivasan, K. R. 1985 On the fine-scale intermittency of turbulence . J. Fluid Mech. 151 , 81--103
work page 1985
-
[51]
Taira, K. , Brunton, S. L. , Dawson, S. T. M. , Rowley, C. W. , Colonius, T. , McKeon, B. J. , Schmidt, O. T. , Gordeyev, S. , Theofilis, V. & Ukeiley, L. S. 2017 Modal analysis of fluid flows: An overview . AIAA J. 55 (12), 4013--4041
work page 2017
-
[52]
Tinney, C. E. , Ukeiley, L. S. & Glauser, M. N. 2008 Low-dimensional characteristics of a transonic jet. part 2. estimate and far-field prediction . J. Fluid Mech. 615 , 53--92
work page 2008
-
[53]
Towne, A. , Dawson, S. T. M. , Br \`e s, G. A. , Lozano-Dur \'a n, A. , Saxton-Fox, T. , Parthasarathy, A. , Jones, A. R. , Biler, H. , Yeh, C.-A. , Patel, H. D. & Taira, K. 2023 A database for reduced-complexity modeling of fluid flows . AIAA J. pp. 1--26
work page 2023
-
[54]
Towne, A. , Schmidt, O. T. & Colonius, T. 2018 Spectral proper orthogonal decomposition and its relationship to dynamic mode decomposition and resolvent analysis . J. Fluid Mech. 847 , 821--867
work page 2018
-
[55]
Tu, J. H. 2013 Dynamic mode decomposition: Theory and applications . PhD thesis, Princeton University
work page 2013
-
[56]
Yeaton, I. J. , Ross, S. D. , Baumgardner, G. A. & Socha, J. J. 2020 Undulation enables gliding in flying snakes . Nat. Phys. 16 (9), 974--982
work page 2020
- [57]
-
[58]
, " * write output.state after.block = add.period write newline
ENTRY address author booktitle chapter edition editor howpublished institution journal key month note number organization pages publisher school series title type volume year eprint label extra.label sort.label short.list INTEGERS output.state before.all mid.sentence after.sentence after.block FUNCTION init.state.consts #0 'before.all := #1 'mid.sentence ...
-
[59]
" write newline "" before.all 'output.state := FUNCTION n.dashify 't := "" t empty not t #1 #1 substring "-" = t #1 #2 substring "--" = not "--" * t #2 global.max substring 't := t #1 #1 substring "-" = "-" * t #2 global.max substring 't := while if t #1 #1 substring * t #2 global.max substring 't := if while FUNCTION word.in bbl.in capitalize " " * FUNCT...
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.