Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-year-2-of-the-earth-sciences-geology-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2024/paper-3/7/h/solution

Apply a Fourier transform or discrete Fourier transform, retain the desired low-frequency coefficients and attenuate those in the high-frequency noise band with a low-pass filter, then invert. For a real signal, apply matching gains at positive and negative frequencies to preserve Hermitian symmetry.
Parseval identity for Fourier series shows what an ideal coefficient cutoff does: the output mean-square signal power is the sum of the retained squared coefficients, and cannot exceed that of the unfiltered input. Much of the high-frequency noise can be removed, but a finite cutoff also removes genuine square wave harmonics. Its edges become less sharp, and a sharp spectral cutoff can exhibit the Gibbs phenomenon. There is no claim of exact recovery if the noise overlaps the retained band. Noise already folded into low frequencies by aliasing cannot in general be removed merely by discarding the high-frequency bins afterward.

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