A Method for the Simulation of Environmental Data Sets.

Abstract

The major goal of this study was to develop a simulation method which could be applied by environmental scientists who may not have a strong background in distributional theory and, moreover, who may not have ready access to a mainframe computer system (e.g. an investigator working on a ship or at a field station). A method was developed which allows the simulation of multivariate data sets without requiring a characterization of the distributional shapes of each of the variables. The method is based upon the concept that most data sets can be approximately normalized by a family of power transformations. Conversely, a matrix of normal deviates produced by a random number generator can be adjusted to appropriate means and standard deviations and back-transformed to simulate the shape of the observed data. The method was successful in simulating data sets displaying a wide range of theoretical distributions as well as real data from an ongoing monitoring program. Keywords: Statistical analysis.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1984
Accession Number
ADA165113

Entities

People

  • Raymond W. Alden Iii

Organizations

  • Old Dominion University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Contracts
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Science
  • Data Sets
  • Engineers
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Information Science
  • Mainframe Computers
  • Monitoring
  • Random Number Generators
  • Simulations
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Universities
  • Virginia

Readers

  • Computer Science.
  • Regression Analysis.
  • Systems Analysis and Design