ABSTRACT
THE PROBLEM Algorithms have been developed for computing a variety of dynamical systems properties, including generalized dimensions Dqi Lyapunov exponents, entropies, the f (a ) spectrum of singularities, unstable periodic orbits, and mutual information. A number of such algorithms are described in this volume. However, none of these techniques for analyzing dynamical systems provide information on the spatial character of spatially extended systems. Until recently the lack of tools for analyzing spatio-temporal behavior has not been a severe limitation in interpreting laboratory studies because most experiments provided primarily temporal information, such as the velocity or temperature measured at a single point in a fluid flow, or the concentration of a particular species measured at a point in a chemical system. In some cases photographs provided detailed spatial information at an instant of time, but the temporal evolution of the spatial structure was not generally available.
