EAS 4480 Environmental Data Analysis

 

Course description

Instructor: Professor Yuhang Wang

Office: ES&T 3254, phone: (404) 894-3995, email: yuhang.wang@eas.gatech.edu

TA: Houwen Wang, MSE 3231, email: houwen.wang@gatech.edu

 

Required texts: Matlab Recipes for Earth Sciences, by M. H. Trauth, Springer, 2015.

Supplement text: Matlab Guide, Second Edition, by D. J Highan and N. J. Higham, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2005.

 

Class: Clough UG Learning Commons 125, Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-4:45 pm

Office hours: Tuesday/Thursday 4:50-6:00 pm

Web: http://apollo.eas.gatech.edu/EAS4480

 

Homework (on http://canvas.gatech.edu):

 

Assignment date

Due date

#1

Jan 16

Jan 23

 

Syllabus:

Date

Topics

Chapters

Jan 7, 9

Introduction to data analysis and Matlab

1, 2

Jan 14, 16

Introduction to Matlab

3

Jan 21, 23

Statistical distributions

3

Jan 28, 30

Statistical tests

3

Feb 4, 6

Extreme value distributions

Feb 11, 13

Correlations

4

Feb 18, 20

Exam #1

4

Feb 25, 27

Regression

4

Mar 4, 6

Regression uncertainty qualifications

4

Mar 11, 13

Time-series analysis

5

Mar 18, 20

Spring break

 

Mar 25, 27

Time-series analysis

5

Apr 1, 3

Signal processing

6

Apr 8, 10

Exam #2

6

Apr 15, 17

Introduction to AI; Class project presentations

Apr 22

Class project presentations

 

 

Grade:

Homework

30%

Exam #1

15%

Exam #2

15%

Class project/presentation

40%

Class attendance

5% bonus

 

Class project requirements

The class project must demonstrate the ability of students to:

(1) define a scientific problem;

(2) collect scientific data;

(3) apply in-depth data analysis methods;

(4) synthesize the analysis results;

(5) present the research results in written and oral forms.

Either multiple relatively simple methods or one sophisticated method from this course must be used. The analysis must include error or uncertainty estimates. Project presentation accounts for 10% of the project grade.

 

Class projects:

 

2024

 

Topics

Amita Anand 

Investigating the Relationship between Drought Severity and Wildfires in California

Delaney Diggins 

Air Quality vs. Mental Health

Risha Goel 

Analyzing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Correlations by Country

Kathleen Griffin 

Seasonality of Ozone & PM2.5

Cecilia Guterman 

Comparison of Estuary Inflow & Nutrients

Owen Hammond-Lee 

Times Series Analysis of Car Crashes in the United States

Maci Harrell 

Comparing Host Star Metallicity, Age, and Exoplanet Population

Ziyu Huang 

Relation Between Air Pollution and Temperature

Fatma Huner 

Temporal Analysis of Climate Variables in Atlanta and Niño-3.4 Region: Implications for Trends and Correlations

Emma King 

Offense or Defense: Which contributes more to a team's success?

Hudson McGaughey 

How Do Velocity and Spin Rate Contribute to MLB Pitchers¡¯ Success?

Emily Melvin 

SST and Sea Ice in the Arctic

Achyutan Narayanan 

Analysis of El Nino on Average Temperatures in the Southeastern United States

Lily Perry 

The Vulnerability of Countries to Sea-level Rise Versus CO2 Emissions per Capita and GDP per Capita

Roberto Prieto 

Project: GHG Emission Uncertainty Analysis

Mireya Ramirez 

OBGYN Access Compared to Successful Births Across GA Counties

Genaro Soto Valle

Is 5G really better than 4G?

Audrey Tomko 

Factors Affecting Increased Rate of  ACL Injury in  Female Soccer Players

Claire Tran 

Influences on the Valence of Songs

Helen Tran 

How Bread (£) Affects Bread (🥖)

 

2023

 

Topics

Matthew Adams

Analyzing Attendance Data from a Local Small Business

William Boynton

An Analysis into Bird Migration Patterns

Lorenzo Caseiro

Breathe Easy¡­?

Janhvi Dubey

Understanding Inflation Using Price Indexes

Alana Edwards

Does GDP per capita growth correlate to the female infant mortality rates in countries of different economic classifications? How do these correlations compare?

Taylor Graham

Hurricane Strength and Sea Surface Temperature

Garrett Hughes

US Land Temperatures vs HS Cross Country

Angela Jackson

Florida¡¯s Gulf Coast  Red Tide

Archita Jayaram

Do fines levied on chemical companies influence the occurrence of future accidents?

Aya Kanawati

Demographic Proximity to Hazardous Sites and Their Air Toxic Risks

Megan Kilinski

Analysis of Life Expectancy

Aidan Labrozzi

A Comparative Analysis of the USA Fencing Ranking System Across Each Weapon

Ciaran McCollum

Crime Trends in Atlanta

Grace Nhan

Solar Energy Production vs Average Daily Temperature

Danielle Nicholas

Relationships between Neighborhood Walkability, Median Income, and Air Quality

Diego Palacios

Climate change impact on crop production

Andres Romero-Delgado

The Wizard or the Prophet?

Tianqi Sun

Analysis of Boston House Prices

Samarth Suresh

Analysis of Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances in Drinking Water across CA, MA and MI

Autumn Toms

The effect of hurricane category on cost of damages

Emily Tribby

Water Quality Analysis

 

2022

 

Topics

Abigail Russ

The effects of Climate Change on Hurricane formation dates

Aiden Wood

Air Pollution and Demographics (2010-2015)

Anikait Dhond

How Does External Pressure Affect Soccer Players¡¯ Behavior

Anna Redanz

A Study of Happiness and Alcohol Consumption Globally

August Harrell

Analysis of Bird Populations 

Caroline Krall

Does Female Prevalence in Schools Correlate to Fertility Rates? 

Ethan Losasso

Linking CO2 Concentrations and Arctic Sea Ice Patterns

Ethan Wang

Correlating Weather Factors and Outdoor Mobility in Fulton County

Gwen Diamond

The influence of ENSO on United States temperature

and precipitation

Jacobo Horcajo

Energy Consumption vs. Temperature

Jose Pages

Earthquakes: What can we learn?

Kiera Tran

The Effect of Air Temperature on Sea Level Change in the
Gulf of Mexico

Kristie Yoo

Effects of a Pandemic on Air Quality

Leah Hornsey

Global Temperature and wildfire occurrence in california

Madeleine Hardt

Seasonal Variability In the Relationship between Coral Sr/Ca and and Sea Surface Temperature

Maggie Xia

Impact of Democracy on Vaccination

Manlin Xu

Investigating the relationships between precipitation, SST, SSS over the 2015-2017 period

Marcus Morris

Correlation Analysis of Volcanic SO2 Emissions and Temperature Anomaly

Mark Rotolo

How does Sea Surface Temperature impact Sea Level Rise?

Paige Wise

Comparison of linear and nonlinear regression of adsorption isotherms

Ritika Sridharan

Analysis of air quality during COVID lockdown in Delhi, India

Ronni Wells

Fossil Fuels More Than Just Energy

Sara Delawalla

Relationship Between Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Levels in the Chesapeake Bay

Sarang Pujari

Analysis of Basal Density and Basal Area to Influence Wildfire Burn Depth

Sophia Colosi

Sea Level Rise and Rising Temperature in Washington, D.C.

Sudarshan Surange

COVID-19 wastewater surveillance

Thiago Esslinger

Can we equitably increase access to electricity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

Yamini Kulkarni

Analysis of Longest Instrumental Rainfall Series of the Indian Regions (1848-2006)

 

2019

 

Topics

Andrew Alsup

Weather Model Analysis

Riannon Colton

Glacial Retreats and the Surge of Volcanic Activity: Iceland

Lucia Lombardo

War and freedom:  a study of countries¡¯ CO2 emissions and freedom index

Camilla Liu

Frequency and Intensity of Tropical Cyclones in Southeastern China Seas

Emile Kanazi

Analyzing Distribution of goals in soccer in 10 minute intervals

 

 

2017

 

Topics

Matthew Barr

Correlation Analysis of Glacier Melt

Anthony Boever

Quality Control at a Local Brewery

Shelby Ellis

Correlation of oxygen isotope data taken from two proxies with different locations

Stephen Gessler

The Impact of Weather on Activity Levels

Hannah Greenwald

Global Access to Improved Drinking Water and Childhood Mortality

Kelly Grissom

The Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on a Baseball

Melat Hagos

Vulnerability of Low Income Neighborhoods to Environmental Pollution

Morgan Kemmerlin

Predictability of Significant Volcanic Eruptions

Chen Liang

Suicide rates: Are they affected by nation¡¯s economic performance?

Joyce Magill

Hurricanes & Cruise Passengers in the Caribbean

Sonia Muhammad

El Nino Upwelling and Ocean Productivity

Gemma O'Connor

How well did corals from the Central Tropical Pacific record SST during the 2015/16 El Niño Event?

Scott Rapponotti

The Effect of Various Environments on Pitcher Spin Rates

Brian Sherman

Does fracking cause earthquakes?

Qi Wang

The role of weather conditions on PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing

Bei Zhang

Predicting box office revenues for movies based on statistical model

Zhongduo Zhang

Trend Analysis of Aftershocks after 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

 

2016

 

Topics

Mark Delgado

On Improving the Output of a Statistical Model

Johnna Floyd

Tree Rings vs. Annual Precipitation

Madeline Frank

Tropical Cyclone Frequency in the North Atlantic, East Pacific, West Pacific, and Indian Ocean Basins

Kaitlin Gardner

Can Weather Influence Homicide Rates?

Joshua Hedgepeth

The Effect of Existing Geologic Features on the Formation
of Europa¡¯s Chaotic Terrains

Nicholas Hitt

An ensemble approach to reconstructing mid-20th century climate using young fossil corals:
pitfalls and opportunities

Shellby Miller

Favia Coral: A New Paleoclimate Archive

Zeeshan Rasheed

Effects of Temperature and Precipitation on Pollen Count

Bruno Rodriguez

Can Energy Be Interesting?

Jennifer Varian

NROT Values and Tornado Warning Polygon Area

 

2015

 

Topics

 Olivia Bailey

Birth Dates: Are they affected by Temperature, Barometric Pressure, and Lunar Phase?

 Ryan Birmingham

Trends in River Flow and Population Dynamics

 Kelly Flanagan

Mexico City: Predicting the Next, Big Earthquake

 Elizabeth Johnson

The Relationship of Weather and Movie Ticket Sales

 Namrata Kolla

Analyzing acidity in the California Current System (CCS)

 Shitian Liu

PM2.5 in China: Cycles, Trend, and Regional Correlation

 Lauren Merritt

Tornado Frequency and Intensity in Oklahoma

 Anh Pham

Is global warming deoxygenating the ocean?

 Sarah Schulte

Hot Temper(ature)s: Relationship between Heat and Crime

 Daoxun Sun

Analysis of chlorophyll data in Labrador Sea: what affect the phytoplankton bloom

 Jacqueline Valett

How Weather, Income, and Education affects Internet Use in the United States

 Shannon Valley

Foraminifera, Isotopes and Paleoclimate Signals

 Qian Zhang

Analysis of water quality trend of a stream in Atlanta

 

2014

 

Topics

Nicholas Djohan

The Urban Heat Island Effect in Atlanta, Georgia

Jonathan, Edwards-Opperman

Climate Patterns Influence on United States Precipitation

Stephen Gregg

Analyzing Atmospheric Variables and Baseball Statistics at Turner Field

Justin Hancock

Precipitation Trends Over Recent Decades in Selected US Cities

Maisie Hugdahl

PM 2.5 and Asthma-Related Emergency Room Visits in California

Xingjian Liu

The Correlation of BOD and SS in Wastewater Influent

Emily Madison

Is Integrated Kinetic Energy a Comprehensive Index to Describe Tropical Cyclone Destructiveness?

Bryson McNulty

1870-2013 Nino3.4 Indices and Monthly Precipitation Totals for Selected U.S. Cities

Daniel Nielsen

Tornadoes and the Arctic Oscillation

Simone Phillips

Drought and Wildfires in Western U.S.

Stephanie Ralston

The Seasonality of Belief: How Temperatures in the U.S. Affect Public Interest in Global Climate Change

Janessa Rowland

Interaction of PM 2.5 in the San Joqauin Valley

Andrew Smith

Precipitation Accumulations and Distribution in Florida in Non-Hurricane Years

 

2013

 

Topics

Justin Chaddick

The Urban Heat Island Effect in Atlanta, Georgia

Pamela Grothe

Christmas Island Coral Demonstrates Tropical Pacific ENSO Variability

April Haneklau

Correlation of AO Indices vs. Corresponding Tornadic Centroid Location and Total Tornado Count

Jacob Heinrichs

Correlation Between Health Risk Factors and Potential Years of Life Lost

Cynthia James

The North Atlantic Oscillation¡¯s (NAO) Impact on the Atlantic Hurricane Season

William Lanxton

Arctic Oscillation Index vs. FFC Temperatures DJF 1997-2012

Melissa Lefevre

An Investigation of the Arctic Oscillation and Georgia Temperature/Rainfall

Elizabeth Marks

Correlations Between Hurricane Intensity and Hurricane Cost

Melissa Nord

The Madden-Julian Oscillation and North Atlantic Hurricanes

Sichoon Park

Effectiveness of Addition of SCMs in Concrete against Ingress of Chloride

Elizabeth Wiggins

The Reliability of Tree Rings as a Temperature Proxy

 

 

2012

 

Topics

Daniel Arrington

Earthquakes: Increasing Over Time?

Benjamin Campbell

Model Output Statistics (MOS) Temperature Forecast Verification JJA 2011

Aaron Jennison

Comparing Tropospheric Ozone in 2000 and 2011

Jessica Johnson

The Correlation between Atlantic Hurricane Frequency and ENSO  

Sibel Kara

Statistical Properties Of Flow Around A Cylinder

Rebecca Koolmeyer

Impacts on Atlanta weather during winter by Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Nino

Virgilio Maisonet

Case Study of  CDOM to Salinity Relationships in Mississippi River Outflow

Jacob Mittelman

El Niño-Southern Oscillation¡¯s Effect on American Tornados

Arielle Nixon

Finding the Time Lag Between Solar Heating and Surface Temperature

Seung Dae Oh

Metagenomic Investigation of Microorganisms exposed to Benzalkonium Chlorides: Induction of Antibiotic Resistance

Andrew Pak

El Niño and East Pacific Hurricanes

Afshan Shaikh

Particle Aggregation

Yung-Chieh Wang

Effects of Physical Properties on Critical Shear Stress of Fine Sediments

 

2011

 

Topics

Stacy Carolin

Resolving Age Model Errors in U-series Dating of Stalagmites from Borneo

Hunter Clasen

Solar Variation and Climate

Ian Colon-Pagan

Comparison of Observed and Simulated 5-day Rainfall Accumulation during the Passage of Tropical Storm Jeanne (2004) over Puerto Rico

Thibault De La Poix De Freminville

Influence of precipitation on earthquakes in Central USA

Christine Gammans

Comparison of Maximum Likelihood Estimate and Least-Squares Regression to Compute b-values for Three Different Tectonic Regimes

James Hite

Investigating Atlanta Area Pollutant Trends

Kayla Hosking

Analysis of changing compound concentrations in air above
Pasadena, Summer 2010

Cyndi Jackson

Flooding in Atlanta in 2009 In the Chattahoochee River Basin

Christopher Johnson

Solar Cycle Variations Influencing Oceanic Niño Index Anomalies Across The Equatorial Pacific Ocean

Sara Jupin

Tornado Events Associated With Supercells and Quasi-linear Convective Systems

Taeseo Ku

Post-processing of Continuous Shear Wave Signals

Marion LeClercq

¦ÄO18 a useful tool to determine the sea surface temperature in the past

Kristin McCallum

Correlations between Atlantic SST and drought conditions

Lindsey Morgan

Heat Mortality in the Southeast

Anastasia Nienow

Correlations Between Atmospheric Depositions

Derek Podowitz

Comparisons between Magnetic field Perturbations and model dipole moments at Europa

Daniel Ross

Does the Arctic Oscillation Influence Severe Weather in Atlanta?

Ryan Schilling

Exploring the Relationship Between North Atlantic and Global Temperature Anomalies Using Bivariate and Time Series Analysis  

Barak Shafei

Inter-Labrotary Comparison Of Refernce Material For Selenium Isotope Data

Jeffery A. Shook

Correlation Between Wind Direction and Observed BrO concentrations

Warrell

Comparison of Cations in Three Lakes

Joshua Wingfield

Submarine Transit From Groton to the Deep Blue Sea

Bailey Wright

Tornado Frequency and Caribbean SST

 

2010

 

Topics

Jacquelyn Bracco

Correlations Between Trace Metals in Sediments in Georgia

Kerry Caslow

A Comparison of Two Creeks

Thomas Christian

Global Temperature Increases ¨C Does Cooling Have a Statistical Basis for the last Three Decades?

Heather Crespo

Comparison of ice core records with Arabian monsoon data

Colin Dean

Phosphate and Iron correlations in an intertidal Georgia salt marsh

Cristal Moon

Herbicides in Metro Atlanta Streams and Rivers

Fawad Niazi

Spatial Variability of CPT Data and Soil Parameters at NGES, Texas A&M

Emily Saad

Estimating Total Phosphorous and Total Suspended Solids in Freshwater Streams from Turbidity Data

 

2009

 

Topics

Keaton Belli

Analysis of Wind Speed Data for Determining Wind Energy Potential in Billings, MT and Huron, SD

Sheliza Bhanjee

Hurricane Frequency and Sea Surface Temperature

Nickolas Culpepper-Hickey

Relationship Between Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreaks and Temperature Perturbations

Anthony Cummings

Predicting Winter Precipitation

Andrew Davis

Seasonal Variability and Large-scale Correlation in the California Current: 1993-2004

Adam Erdmann

Connection between the Number of Hurricanes and their Intensities

Joseph Estep

Temporal Dynamics in Water Quality Measurements Along Nancy Creek, Atlanta, GA

Andrew Horan

The Effect of ENSO on Precipitation in San Diego, California

Chelong Hsia

Correlations Between Wind Direction and Precipitation

Julian McAdams

The Correlation Of Wet Deposition Inland And In Coastal Areas

Kathleen McCanless

PM2.5 Concentration Relations

Sean Miller

High Latitude Insolation and Climate Response

Calvin Moorer

Correlation Tests Between the Craven SigSvr Parameter and Severe Weather

Raymond Myer

Investigating the Ozone Concentration Over the Atlanta Metro Area

Jordan Simpkins

Increasing Levels of Atmospheric Methane

 

 

2008

 

Topics

Robert Binion

Investigating the Hockey Stick Climate Model

Joel Craig

Investigating ENSO and PDO effects on Amazon River discharge

Steven  Dinapoli

The Effect of ENSO on Precipitation in Atlanta

Angela Fritz

Singular Value Decomposition North Atlantic SST

Hussein Sayani

Sunspots and Heavy Precipitation in East Africa

Samuel Snow

Statistically significant findings: Nutrients in a salt marsh system

Laura  Zaunbrecher

Testing the ¡®Hockey Stick¡¯

Zhijun Zhao

Correlation and Time Series Analysis of Tropospheric Hydroxyl Radicals and Solar Ultraviolet Radiation