Aerospace Industry Applications of the Fast Fourier Transform
A. E. Galef, D. H. Mitchell · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1973
The advantages of the Cooley-Tukey technique for calculating the Fourier transform of a function were recognized immediately and universally; there is probably no other algorithm which was incorporated in program libraries so fast, and after only eight years it is now likely that there are no laboratories where current engineering work is being done that do not have an operational version of the fast Fourier transform. It would be reasonable to expect that this now universal ability to make the transform (and inverse transform) with great economy would have encouraged its widespread use and the development of new applications of this powerful technique. A cursory survey within the Aerospace Industry confirms that it is indeed being used widely, but suggests that the major use is the routine one of spectral analysis, where the Fourier transform is an end product rather than a tool. This paper attempts to encourage the wider use of the fast Fourier transform by describing some additional applications from the experience of the authors and others at the author's home company, and from the experience of others whose comments have been solicited.