Statistical Analysis in Climate Research

Self-contained, comprehensive book describing powerful tools in mathematical statistics that are used widely in climatological research.

Hans von Storch (Author), Francis W. Zwiers (Author)

9780521012300, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 21 February 2002

496 pages, 221 b/w illus. 39 tables
28 x 20.7 x 2.7 cm, 1.12 kg

' … certainly excellent value for your money …' Computers & Geosciences

Climatology is, to a large degree, the study of the statistics of our climate. The powerful tools of mathematical statistics therefore find wide application in climatological research. The purpose of this book is to help the climatologist understand the basic precepts of the statistician's art and to provide some of the background needed to apply statistical methodology correctly and usefully. The book is self contained: introductory material, standard advanced techniques, and the specialised techniques used specifically by climatologists are all contained within this one source. There are a wealth of real-world examples drawn from the climate literature to demonstrate the need, power and pitfalls of statistical analysis in climate research. Suitable for graduate courses on statistics for climatic, atmospheric and oceanic science, this book will also be valuable as a reference source for researchers in climatology, meteorology, atmospheric science, and oceanography.

1. Introduction
Part I. Fundamentals: 2. Probability theory
3. Distributions of climate variables
4. Concepts in statistical inference
5. Estimation
Part II. Confirmation and Analysis: 6. The statistical test of a hypothesis
7. Analysis of atmospheric circulation problems
Part III. Fitting Statistical Models: 8. Regression
9. Analysis of variance
Part IV. Time Series: 10. Time series and stochastic processes
11. Parameters of univariate and bivariate time series
12. Estimating covariance functions and spectra
Part V. Eigen Techniques: 13. Empirical orthogonal functions
14. Canonical correlation analysis
15. POP analysis
16. Complex eigentechniques
Part VI. Other Topics: 17. Specific statistical concepts in climate research
18. Forecast quality evaluation
Part VII. Appendices.

Subject Areas: Meteorology & climatology [RBP]