SUBJECT

Title

From monitoring to data analysis

Type of instruction

lecture

Level

master

Part of degree program
Credits

2

Recommended in

Semester 2

Typically offered in

Spring semester

Course description

With the development of analytical and in general sampling methods, the number and size of environmental datasets are continuously increasing. Therefore during the education of environmental scientists special attention should be paid to teach the students, exactly, how these datasets are obtained and how should these be handled. The main aim of the subject is to show the students, at the beginning of their studies, what are the basic characteristics of these datasets, how ere these obtained, what are the common errors and mistakes related to them and what are the biggest difficulties when it comes to work with them. Moreover the subject want to provide preliminary knowledge for the obligatory „Környezettudományiszámítások” subject.

Main kompentence areas to be developed:

The student will gain knowledge about:

  • How a dataset is formed from environmental monitoring
  • What are the critical points where the dataset could become non-representative
  • What are the basic data manipulation techniques to make an obtained dataset „clearer”
  • What problems may under-representativeness result in

At the end of the course the student will be capable of:

  • Obtaining an overview on what sort of dataset he/she will have to deal with
  • Trasforming the obtained dataset to make it as easy to use as possible, i.e. handling missing values, typos etc.
Readings
  • Webster R. & Oliver M. A. 2008. Geostatistics for Environmental Scientists: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
  • József Kovács, Péter Tanos, János Korponai, Ilona Kovácsné Székely, Károly Gondár, Katalin Gondár-Sőregi,
  • István Gábor Hatvani. Analysis of Water Quality Data for Scientists. In: Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment. Rijeka: InTech Open Access Publisher, 2012. pp. 65-94; ISBN: 978-953-51-0486-5
  • Ott, Lyman, Michael Longnecker, and R. Lyman Ott. An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis. Vol. 511. Pacific Grove, CA: Duxbury, 2001.