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treeclim (version 1.0.13)

skills: Evaluate reconstruction skills using split-calibration

Description

This function allows to evaluate the reconstruction skills for a given proxy time series in split-calibration approach.

Usage

skills(object, formula, model = "ols", calibration = "50%",
  timespan = NULL)

Arguments

object
an object of class "tc_dcc" or "tc_seascorr"
formula
a formula specifying the regressand, optionally ommitting the intercept, see details
model
one of "ols" or "rma"
calibration
which part of the data shall be used as calibration subset? Given as either a range of years, an integer corresponding to the first or last number of observations, or a percentage as character string corresponding to the part of the data set to be used as
timespan
timespan to be used to truncate the data

Value

  • 'skills' returns an 'object' of class '"tc_skills"'.

    An object of class '"tc_skills"' is a list containing at least the following components:

  • callthe call made to function 'skills'
  • r.calthe coefficient of correlation for the calibration timespan
  • r.fullthe coefficient of correlation for the complete data set
  • coef.calregression coefficients for the calibration model
  • coef.fullregression coefficients for the full model
  • p.calsignificance for the calibration model
  • p.fullsignificance for the full model
  • REreduction of error statistic
  • CEcoefficient of efficiency statistic
  • DWDurbin-Watson statistic
  • cal.modelthe complete calibration model (an object of class 'lmodel2')
  • full.modethe complete full model (an object of class 'lmodel2')

Details

The result of a call to dcc or seascorr can be used as object for the function. The required data is then taken from this object and no further processing of the tree and climate variables has to be done for by the user. This reflects the flow of analysis, where first general climate/growth relations are explored, and then the strongest ones are deployed for reconstruction purposes.

formula is a one-sided formula of the form ~ selection, where `selection` is an aggregation modifier (one of .mean, .sum, and .range). The user should be aware of the fact that in case the aggregation modifier evaluates to more than one variable (e.g., summer means for both temperature and precipiation), a warning message is issued, and only the first variable is taken into consideration for evaluating the reconstruction skills.

The type of regression model (ordinary least squares or errors-in-variables via reduced major axis regression) can be selected.

The part of the data to be used as a calibration subset can be specified in three different ways: 1) as a range of years, these are then taken as calibration period; 2) as a single integer, if positive, this number of observations at the recent end of the data set is taken as calibration set, if negative, this number of oldest observations is taken; and 3) as a character string giving a percentage of values, e.g., "-40%" would select the 40% oldest observations, while "55%" would select the 55% most recent ones.

The relationship between climate and tree-ring data is evaluated for the calibration period and the complete data set. Frequently used verification statistics are computed: reduction of error (RE), coefficient of efficiency (CE), and the Durban-Watson statistic (DW) (Cook et al. 1994, Durbin and Watson, 1951).

References

Cook E, Briffa K, Jones P (1994) Spatial regression methods in dendroclimatology: A review and comparison of two techniques. International Journal of Climatology, 14, 379-402.

Durbin, J, Watson, GS (1951) Testing for serial correlation in least squares regression. Biometrika 38:159-78.

Examples

Run this code
dc <- dcc(muc_fake, muc_clim, .mean(6:9, "temp") + .sum(6:9,
"prec"))
sk <- skills(dc)
sk
plot(sk)

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