Data Analysis and Statistics for Geography, Environmental Science, and Engineering

for Geography, Environmental

Science, and Engineering

MIGUEL F. ACEVEDO

DATA ANALYSIS

and STATISTICS

Providing a solid foundation for twenty-rst-century scientists and engineers, Data

Analysis and Statistics for Geography, Environmental Science, and Engineering

guides readers in learning quantitative methodology, including how to implement data

analysis methods using open-source software. Given the importance of interdisciplinary

work in sustainability, the book brings together principles of statistics and probability,

multivariate analysis, and spatial analysis methods applicable across a variety of

science and engineering disciplines.

Based on the author’s many years of teaching graduate and undergraduate students,

this textbook emphasizes hands-on learning. Organized into two parts, it allows

greater exibility using the material in various countries and types of curricula. The

rst part covers probability, random variables and inferential statistics, applications

of regression, time series analysis, and analysis of spatial point patterns. The

second part uses matrix algebra to address multidimensional problems. After a

review of matrices, it delves into multiple regression, dependent random processes

and autoregressive time series, spatial analysis using geostatistics and spatial

regression, discriminant analysis, and a variety of multivariate analyses based

on eigenvector methods.

Each chapter starts with conceptual and theoretical material to give a firm

foundation in how the methods work. Examples and exercises illustrate the

applications and demonstrate how to go from concepts to problem solving. Hands-

on computer sessions allow students to grasp the practical implications and

learn by doing. Throughout, the computer examples and exercises use open-source

R packages developed by the author, which help students acquire the skills to

implement and conduct analysis and to analyze the results.

This self-contained book offers a unied presentation of data analysis methods for

more effective problem solving. With clear, easy-to-follow explanations, the book

helps students to develop a solid understanding of basic statistical analysis and

prepares them for learning the more advanced and specialized methods they will need

in their work.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

ISBN: 978-1-4398-8501-7

9 78 14 39 88 50 17

9 0 0 0 0

K13985

DATA ANALYSIS and STATISTICS

for Geography, Environmental Science, and Engineering

DATA ANALYSIS and STATISTICS

for Geography, Environmental Science, and Engineering

ACEVEDO

K13985_Cover_mech.indd 1 10/16/12 2:20 PM