Monotone cubic spline interpolation for functions with a strong gradient

Abstract: Spline interpolation has been used in several applications due to its favorable properties regarding smoothness and accuracy of the interpolant. However, when there exists a discontinuity or a steep gradient in the data, some artifacts can appear due to the Gibbs phenomenon. Also, preservation of data monotonicity is a requirement in some applications, and that property is not automatically verified by the interpolator. In this paper, we study sufficient conditions to obtain monotone cubic splines based on Hermite cubic interpolators and propose different ways to construct them using non-linear formulas. The order of approximation, in each case, is calculated and several numerical experiments are performed to contrast the theoretical results.