2nd Edition

Statistics for Environmental Engineers

    504 Pages 193 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Two critical questions arise when one is confronted with a new problem that involves the collection and analysis of data. How will the use of statistics help solve this problem? Which techniques should be used? Statistics for Environmental Engineers, Second Edition helps environmental science and engineering students answer these questions when the goal is to understand and design systems for environmental protection. The second edition of this bestseller is a solutions-oriented text that encourages students to view statistics as a problem-solving tool.

    Written in an easy-to-understand style, Statistics for Environmental Engineers, Second Edition consists of 54 short, "stand-alone" chapters. All chapters address a particular environmental problem or statistical technique and are written in a manner that permits each chapter to be studied independently and in any order. Chapters are organized around specific case studies, beginning with brief discussions of the appropriate methodologies, followed by analysis of the case study examples, and ending with comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches.

    New to this edition:

  • Thirteen new chapters dealing with topics such as experimental design, sizing experiments, tolerance and prediction intervals, time-series modeling and forecasting, transfer function models, weighted least squares, laboratory quality assurance, and specialized control charts
  • Exercises for classroom use or self-study in each chapter
  • Improved graphics
  • Revisions to all chapters

    Whether the topic is displaying data, t-tests, mechanistic model building, nonlinear least squares, confidence intervals, regression, or experimental design, the context is always familiar to environmental scientists and engineers. Case studies are drawn from censored data, detection limits, regulatory standards, treatment plant performance, sampling and measurement errors, hazardous waste, and much more. This revision of a classic text serves as an ideal textbook for students and a valuable reference for any environmental professional working with numbers.
  • Environmental Problems and Statistics

    A Brief Review of Statistics

    Plotting Data

    Smoothing Data

    Seeing the Shape of a Distribution

    External Reference Distributions

    Using Transformations

    Estimating Percentiles

    Accuracy, Bias, and Precision of Measurements

    Precision of Calculated Values

    Laboratory Quality Assurance

    Fundamentals of Process Control Charts

    Specialized Control Charts

    Limit of Detection

    Analyzing Censored Data

    Comparing a Mean with a Standard

    Paired t -Test for Assessing the Average of Differences

    Independent t-Test for Assessing the Difference of Two Averages

    Assessing the Difference of Proportions

    Multiple Paired Comparison of k Averages

    Tolerance Intervals and Prediction Intervals

    Experimental Design

    Sizing the Experiment

    Analysis of Variance to Compare k Averages

    Components of Variance

    Multiple Factor Analysis of Variance

    Factorial Experimental Designs

    Fractional Factorial Experimental Designs

    Screening of Important Variables

    Analyzing Factorial Experiments by Regression

    Correlation

    Serial Correlation

    The Method of Least Squares

    Precision of Parameter Estimates in Linear Models

    Precision of Parameter Estimates in Nonlinear Models

    Calibration

    Weighted Least Squares

    Empirical Model Building by Linear Regression

    The Coefficient of Determination, R2

    Regression Analysis with Categorical Variables

    The Effect of Autocorrelation on Regression

    The Iterative Approach to Experimentation

    Seeking OptimumConditions by Response Surface Methodology

    Designing Experiments for Nonlinear Parameter Estimation

    Why Linearization Can Bias Parameter Estimates

    A Problem in Fitting Models to Multiresponse Data

    Model Discrimination

    Data Adjustment for Process Rationalization

    How Measurement Errors are Transmitted into Calculated Values

    Using Simulations to Study Statistical Problems

    Introduction to Time Series Modeling

    Transfer Function Models

    Forecasting Time Series

    Intervention Analysis

    Appendix-Statistical Tables

    Index

    Biography

    Linfield C. Brown, Paul Mac Berthouex

    "The book is well written, easy to read, and interesting, which is no small feat considering the subject matter. The authors have taken considerable steps to make this textbook user-friendly to their intended audience, environmental engineers. … The authors, both recognized experts in civil and sanitary engineering, provide data and problems in each chapter that use relevant and realistic examples to teach the concepts of each chapter. … [U]seful and well written … [the book] contains exercises based on the types of real-world problems that environmental engineers face on a daily basis."
    - Environmental Practice, Vol. 6, No. 4, Dec. 2004


    About the first edition:
    "...a valuable addition to any environmental engineer's library."
    -Technometrics