qEmpirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis attempts to find a relatively small number of
independent variables (predictors; factors) which convey as much of the original information as possible without
redundancy.
qEOF analysis can be used to explore the structure of the variability within a data set in a
objective way, and to analyze relationships within a set of variables.
qEOF analysis is also called principal component analysis or factor analysis.