Let $\bf M$ be a smooth compact oriented Riemannian manifold, and let $\Delta$ be the Laplace-Beltrami operator on ${\bf M}$. Say $0 \neq f \in \mathcal{S}(\RR^+)$, and that $f(0) = 0$. For $t > 0$, let $K_t(x,y)$ denote the kernel of $f(t^2 \Delta)$. Suppose $f$ satisfies Daubechies' criterion, and $b > 0$. For each $j$, write ${\bf M}$ as a disjoint union of measurable sets $E_{j,k}$ with diameter at most $ba^j$, and comparable to $ba^j$ if $ba^j$ is sufficiently small. Take $x_{j,k} \in E_{j,k}$. We then show that the functions $\phi_{j,k}(x)=[\mu(E_{j,k})]^{1/2} \bar{K_{a^j}}(x_{j,k},x)$ form a frame for $(I-P)L^2({\bf M})$, for $b$ sufficiently small (here $P$ is the projection onto the constant functions). Moreover, we show that the ratio of the frame bounds approaches 1 nearly quadratically as the dilation parameter approaches 1, so that the frame quickly becomes nearly tight (for $b$ sufficiently small). Moreover, based upon how well-localized a function $F \in (I-P)L^2$ is in space and in frequency, we can describe which terms in the summation $F \sim SF = \sum_j \sum_k < F,\phi_{j,k} > \phi_{j,k}$ are so small that they can be neglected. If $n=2$ and $\bf M$ is the torus or the sphere, and $f(s)=se^{-s}$ (the "Mexican hat" situation)...

Let $\bf M$ be a smooth compact oriented Riemannian manifold, and let $\Delta_{\bf M}$ be the Laplace-Beltrami operator on ${\bf M}$. Say $0 \neq f \in \mathcal{S}(\RR^+)$, and that $f(0) = 0$. For $t > 0$, let $K_t(x,y)$ denote the kernel of $f(t^2 \Delta_{\bf M})$. We show that $K_t$ is well-localized near the diagonal, in the sense that it satisfies estimates akin to those satisfied by the kernel of the convolution operator $f(t^2\Delta)$ on $\RR^n$. We define continuous ${\cal S}$-wavelets on ${\bf M}$, in such a manner that $K_t(x,y)$ satisfies this definition, because of its localization near the diagonal. Continuous ${\cal S}$-wavelets on ${\bf M}$ are analogous to continuous wavelets on $\RR^n$ in $\mathcal{S}(\RR^n)$. In particular, we are able to characterize the H$\ddot{o}$lder continuous functions on ${\bf M}$ by the size of their continuous ${\mathcal{S}}-$wavelet transforms, for H$\ddot{o}$lder exponents strictly between 0 and 1. If $\bf M$ is the torus $\TT^2$ or the sphere $S^2$, and $f(s)=se^{-s}$ (the ``Mexican hat'' situation), we obtain two explicit approximate formulas for $K_t$, one to be used when $t$ is large, and one to be used when $t$ is small.