The application of factor analysis to determine the functional dependencies of hydrological characteristics in aquatic ecosystems

Abstract

The article discusses methods of factor analysis to identify heterogeneity in the conditions of spatial distribution and flow formation in aquatic ecosystems. Various factor analysis algorithms were studied to take into account the conjugate action of many factors. Examples of ranking the established dependencies by the value of their own significance criteria are shown. Deficiencies of factor analysis methods in certain software applications were identified because of a possible incorrect interpretation of the results due to the complexity of the technology. The possibility of using factor analysis tools to describe the spatial structures of hydrological data and identify risk zones associated with the instability of the hydrological regime was identified.