ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

hilbert–huang transform

The Hilbert–Huang Transform (HHT) is a special kind of mathematical tool that helps scientists learn more about signals that come from nature. Signals from nature are all around us, like an earthquake, a wave, or your own heartbeat. HHT helps us make sense of these signals and learn more about them. It does this by using a deep mathematical technique called Fourier Transform. Fourier Transform takes a complicated wave, like an earthquake wave, and breaks it down into a sum of shorter and simpler waves that all work together to create the wave. This helps us understand the underlying structure of the wave, which in turn helps us learn more about it. HHT takes it a step further by automatically separating the waves into parts that show us how the wave changes over time. So it lets us dig even deeper and learn even more about the wave and the things that created it.