Introduction.

There are some important reasons for writing this book about neural networks (NNs) even though many books and articles on this topic have already been published. One reason is that we deal with the application of NNs as an algorithm for data analysis in the field of sea phenomena. This is quite a new field of application for the NN; few papers have yet been published using this approach. NNs have a double significance: one is that they provide very flexible and adaptable algorithms to handle data analysis and the other is that some versions of these algorithms can be used to describe the behavior of real neurons. The first meaning of NN is the one which is dealt with in this book. We do not deal with all the possible applications to the complex world of time series, which is impossible to do in the space of one book (it would require an entire encyclopedia), but only with the applications of NNs to time series of sea levels and other related important variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]