Spatio-Temporal Statistics with R

A 1.5 Day Workshop in Sydney presented by Noel Cressie and Andrew Zammit Mangion, (NIASRA, UOW)

Good scientific data collection involves a protocol that specifies where (i.e., spatial locations) and when (i.e., temporal instants) measurements are taken. Scientists want to answer “why” questions, and often space and time play critical roles. This workshop offers an intermediate-level and hands-on introduction to spatio-temporal statistical modelling with R, using case studies drawn from the environmental and ecological sciences.

The Course

This 1.5-day workshop is based on the book by Wikle, Zammit-Mangion, and Cressie, Spatio-Temporal Statistics with R, published in 2019 by Chapman & Hall/CRC Press and freely available for download from https://spacetimewithr.org . It considers a systematic approach to analysing spatio-temporal data, with a particular emphasis on hierarchical (empirical and Bayesian) statistical modelling. The course, which is endorsed as an activity of the Environmental Statistics Section of the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA), will cover the following topics in spatio-temporal statistics:

• Key concepts of hierarchical modelling; overview of requisite background in spatial statistics.
• Data wrangling with spatio-temporal data.
• Spatio-temporal data classes in R.
• Visualisation of spatio-temporal data using lattices and grammar of graphics.
• EDA for spatio-temporal data (including visualisation and empirical dimension-reduction) in R.
• Standard statistical models for spatio-temporal data.
• Covariance functions and spatio-temporal kriging in practice.
• Rank-reduced spatio-temporal modelling approaches.
• Dynamic spatio-temporal modelling.

A sizeable portion of the workshop is hands-on. Participants are required to bring their own laptop with R, v3.3 or higher, installed. A list of required packages will be sent to the attendees prior to the workshop. Participants will receive a printed copy of the slides used in the presentations.

Target Audience

This course is aimed at researchers and students with a Bachelor-level understanding of probability, statistical inference, and matrix algebra. Basic fluency in R will be assumed.

Instructors

  Noel Cressie, FAA is Director of the Centre for Environmental Informatics within  the National Institute for Applied Statistics Research Australia (NIASRA) and Distinguished Professor in the School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics (SMAS), University of Wollongong, Australia. He is the author of four books including Statistics for Spatial Data, rev. edn (Wiley, 1993), Statistics for Spatio-Temporal Data written with Christopher K. Wikle (Wiley, 2011), and the book upon which this workshop is based. Among many honours, Noel has received the 2014 Pitman Medal from the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2018.

  Andrew Zammit Mangion is Senior Lecturer and DECRA Research Fellow in NIASRA and SMAS, University of Wollongong, Australia. He is co-author of two books, including one upon which this workshop is based, and he has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles in the field of spatial and spatio-temporal statistics. He is also the author of a number of related R packages available on CRAN. In 2013, Andrew was awarded a US National Academy of Sciences prize for his work on the modelling and prediction of armed conflicts.

Fees and Information

Early Bird Registration (up to 12 April)

General: $550
Member SSA: $450
Student non-member SSA*: $300
SSA student member*: $250

Registration after 12 April 2019

General: $600
Member SSA: $500
Student non-member SSA*: $350
SSA student member*: $300

Attendees are responsible for arranging their own accommodation.

Schedule:

Monday 29 April: Registration 8:40am; course from 9:00am to 4:30pm
Tuesday 30 April: Course from 9:00am to 12:30pm
Breaks: Morning and afternoon coffee/tea during the course and lunch on Monday 29 April are included in the course fee.

Registration

Places are limited, and registrations will be processed on a first-come first-served basis. Please fill out the registration form available from https://niasra.uow.edu.au and e-mail it to Karin Karr (karink@uow.edu.au). Registration will be confirmed via an e-mailed receipt, once payment has been received. A certificate of attendance will be given at the end of the course.

Refund Policy

A refund minus a 20% cancellation fee will be given for cancellations up to 12noon (AEST), Friday 19 April, 2019. Beyond this deadline, no refunds will be given.

For further information, please contact Karin Karr (karink@uow.edu.au, +61 2 4221 5076).