Environmental statistics
Environment statistics is the application of
The United Nations' Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES) defines the scope of environment statistics as follows:[1] The scope of environment statistics covers biophysical aspects of the environment and those aspects of the
Uses
Statistical analysis is essential to the field of environmental sciences, allowing researchers to gain an understanding of environmental issues through researching and developing potential solutions to the issues they study. The applications of statistical methods to environmental sciences are numerous and varied. Environmental statistics are used in many fields including; health and safety organizations, standard bodies, research institutes, water and river authorities, meteorological organizations, fisheries, protection agencies, and in risk, pollution, regulation and control concerns.[2]
Environmental statistics is especially pertinent and widely used in the academic, governmental, regulatory, technological, and consulting industries.[2]
Specific applications of statistical analysis within the field of environmental science include earthquake risk analysis, environmental policymaking, ecological sampling planning, environmental forensics.[2]
Within the scope of environmental statistics, there are two main categories of their uses.[2]
- Descriptive statistics is not used to make inferences about data, but simply to describe its characteristics.
- Inferential statisticsis used to make inferences about data, test hypotheses or make predictions.
Types of studies covered in environmental statistics include:[3]
- Baseline studies to document the present state of an environment to provide background in case of unknown changes in the future;
- Targeted studies to describe the likely impact of changes being planned or of accidental occurrences;
- Regular monitoring to attempt to detect changes in the environment.
Sources
Sources of data for environmental statistics are varied and include surveys related to
Methods
Methods of statistical analysis in environmental sciences are as numerous as its applications. While there is a basis for the methods used in other fields, many of these methods must be adapted to suit the needs or limitations of data in environmental science.
See also
References
- ^ http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/FDES/FDES-2015-supporting-tools/FDES.pdf United Nations Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics
- ^ ISSN 1527-5922.
- ^ ISBN 1-58488-029-5
External links
- https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/data/oecd-environment-statistics_env-data-en
- https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envstats/qindicators.cshtml
- http://www.jenvstat.org/
- https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?dirEntryId=137230&Lab=NERL
- https://web.ma.utexas.edu/users/mks/envstat.html
- https://www.umass.edu/landeco/teaching/ecodata/schedule/statistics.pdf Archived 2020-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
- https://unstats.un.org/unsd/environmentgl/default.asp