Principal component analysis in the evaluation of environmental data

Abstract The objective of this article is to demonstrate by application to published data, the usefulness of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in the examination of multivariate data. There is a number of monographs on the subject, as well as tutorials. The incorporation of PCA into Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) at the data-to-information conversion stage, has been suggested. In spite of extensive literature, the use of PCA in the evaluation of environmental data increases slowly. This article attempts to bridge the gap between the theory and the applications of PCA. It uses data published recently in this journal, to show how PCA can assist in their evaluation.