Environmental Statistics with S-PLUS

The combination of easy-to-use software with easy access to a description of the statistical methods (definitions, concepts, etc.) makes this book an excellent resource. Clearly, one of the major features of this book is the inclusion of general information on environmental statistical methods and examples of how to implement these methods using the statistical software package S-Plus and the add-in modules EnvironmentalStats for S-Plus, S+SpatialStats, and S-Plus for ArcView. Environmental Statistics discusses almost all of the environmental statistics methods used today by scientists, researchers, and regulators. Data sets used in the examples are available on the World Wide Web so you can investigate the data yourself and reproduce the examples! This book is a survey of statistical methods you can use to collect and analyze environmental data. It explains what these methods are, how to use them, and where you can find references to them. It provides insight into how to collect environmental data (via various random sampling schemes), and also what to think about before you collect environmental data, and how to make sense of it after you have it. Several data sets are used to illustrate concepts and methods, and are available on the World Wide Web so that the reader may explore the data and reproduce the examples. The appendices include an extensive list of references, a list of relevant URLs, a glossary of statistical terms, and an index. This book is useful for environmental scientists, engineers, and regulators, even those with only a limited knowledge of statistics, as well as a text for students taking courses in environmental statistics, statistics, biostatistics and environmental science.

Table of Contents:
"Introduction. Designing a Sampling Program, Part I. Looking at Data. Probability Distributions. Estimating Distribution Parameters and Quantiles. Prediction Intervals, Tolerance Intervals, and Control Charts. Hypothesis Tests. Designing a Sampling Program, Part II. Linear Models. Censored Data. Time Series Analysis. Spatial Statistics. Monte Carlo Simulation and Risk Assessment. References. Index.

About the Author :
Millard, Steven P.; Neerchal, Nagaraj K.

Review :
"provides an exhaustive treatment of the statistical sampling and analysis issues that confront applied environmental statisticians and scientists. Drs. Millard and Neerchal have a rare talent for explaining and illustrating even the most difficult statistical procedures and principles in language that is clear and free of jargon. However, the most unique feature of the software and text is that they are seamlessly interwoven, each complimenting the other. The software illustrates the book and the book places the software in the context of the underlying environmental research questions. This is unprecedented. Together the software and the book clarify the DQO and DQA process to such an extent that it is hard for me to imagine applying these principles to my own work or teaching them to applied scientists without the two." - Michael Riggs, RTI "The combination of easy-to-use software with easy access to a description of statistical methods is done with thoroughness and skill." -Richard Gilbert, Battelle Pacific NW Labs -JASA, September 2001 "Environmental Statistics With S-PLUS is a textbook with a thorough coverage of basic data analysis, but it also ventures into more complex areas such as risk assessment and spatial statistics. Although the use of the relevant S-PLUS packages is described throughout, the book is basically about statistics, not software: It is statistics "with" rather than "in" or "for" S-PLUS. It is allegedly intended for just about anyone: in practice it would be suitable for many people with a background in engineering or environmental health." -Technometrics, Vol. 43, No. 4, November 2001