Pushing the Limits of Spatial Extreme Value Analysis

• Activity Number: 93
• Type: Roundtables
• Date/Time: Monday, August 4, 2014 : 7:00 AM to 8:15 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics and the Environment
• Author(s): Brian Reich*+
• Companies: North Carolina State University
• Keywords: Bayesian ; Climate ; Environmental ; Extremes ; Spatial

Abstract

From heat waves to hurricanes, it is often the extremes of environmental processes that are the most critical to understand probabilistically due to their effects on society. Statistical techniques are crucial for accurately quantifying the likelihood of extreme events and monitoring changes in their frequency and intensity. Extreme events are, by definition, rare, therefore estimation of local climate characteristics can be improved by borrowing strength across nearby locations. While methods for univariate extreme data are well-developed, modeling spatially referenced extreme data is an active area of research. In this roundtable, we will discuss recent methodological and computational developments for spatial extremes, as well as their application to complex environmental processes such as extreme precipitation, temperature, and air pollution.