STATMOS (STatistical methods for ATMospheric and Oceanic Sciences)
This award supports a Research Network in the Mathematical Sciences. Recent events in climate science have highlighted the need for increased participation of statisticians. While mathematics plays an important role in modeling fluid dynamics, statistics specializes in quantifying uncertainty. The objective of this project is to build a network of statisticians with interest in atmospheric and ocean science. The hubs of the network (and some nodes) have personnel both in statistics and in atmospheric and ocean science; the National Center for Atmospheric Research is a common node connected to each of the nodes. The network will also connect with similar networks in the Pacific Northwest and in Europe, and will provide the research necessary for decision makers to make informed decisions, based on accurate assessment of uncertainty. Scientifically, the exchanges between the nodes of the network will help foster a cadre of young researchers, including both undergraduate and graduate students, able to work across disciplines, developing relevant methodologies and applying them to important scientific problems. Students at early stages in their careers will get effectively integrated in the statistical and scientific community. This will help them to build a network in the community of statisticians working on multidisciplinary problems.
The research topics of this project cover broad areas, with a common theme being multivariate nonstationary non-Gaussian spatio-temporal models, which are needed to describe a changing world. Network researchers will study extreme events in space and time, will develop methods to compare models to data, will make uncertainty assessments for scenario-based climate projections, and will produce computationally efficient ways to deal with large amounts of data from observations and numerical models. The particular combination of research and teaching carried out by the network will ensure that the knowledge generated by the group will immediately be transmitted to graduate students.
STATMOS Research Network home page: www.nrcse.washington.edu/statmos/
