Applications of matrix factorization methods to climate data

An initial dimension reduction forms an integral part of many analyses in climate science. Different methods yield low-dimensional representations that are based on differing aspects of the data. Depending on the features of the data that are relevant for a given study, certain methods may be more suitable than others, for instance yielding bases that can be more easily identified with physically meaningful modes. To illustrate the distinction between particular methods and identify circumstances in which a given method might be preferred, in this paper we present a set of case studies comparing the results obtained using the traditional approaches of empirical orthogonal function analysis and k-means clustering with the more recently introduced methods such as archetypal analysis and convex coding. For data such as global sea surface temperature anomalies, in which there is a clear, dominant mode of variability, all of the methods considered yield rather similar bases with which to represent the data while differing in reconstruction accuracy for a given basis size. However, in the absence of such a clear scale separation, as in the case of daily geopotential height anomalies, the extracted bases differ much more significantly between the methods. Wehighlight the importance in such cases of carefully considering the relevant features of interest and of choosing the method that best targets precisely those features so as to obtain more easily interpretable results.