A method for characterizing engine wear includes the steps of generating operational data representative of engine operation, comparing the operational data with baseline operational data generated by a baseline operational model of the engine and generating a first deviation vector based on this comparison, generating a plurality of data images of an engine component following engine operation, comparing each of the plurality of data images with a baseline image of the engine component and generating a second deviation vector based on this comparison, and quantifying a relationship between the first deviation vector and the second deviation vector. The first deviation vector represents variation between the operational data and the baseline operational data. The second deviation vector represents variation between the plurality of data images and the baseline images.