Turbulence and wavelet packet analysis

The problem of turbulence, and in particular that of modeling the drag of an object through a fluid (liquid or gas), has occupied and fascinated generations of scientists, from Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century (figure 1 ) to the present day. Scientific issues such as weather prediction and climate change, and economic ones such as the design of airfoils for cars, planes and ships, all depend on a better understanding of turbulent phenomena. Despite years of research, no comprehensive theory of turbulence has yet been developed.

The application of wavelets to fluid dynamics has been the subject of numerous publications since 1992 . The main...