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Overview

My work involves application of statistical methods to quantifying and dealing with uncertainty in meteorological and climatological data and forecasts, in a variety of contexts.

Research

Much of my research during the past 5 years has related to forecast evaluation, ensemble forecasting, or both. Other areas in which I have worked are in the use and economic value of forecasts in formal decision-making models, "weather generators" (time-domain time series models for weather data), interpretation and use of long lead ("climate") forecasts, and studies of climate-change impacts.

Instruction Focus

My courses are: EAS 435 (Statistical Methods in Meteorology and Climatology), Fall terms; EAS 666 (Applied Multivariate Statistics), Spring terms, odd-numbered years; EAS 334 (Microclimatology) Spring terms, even-numbered years; and EAS 296 (Forecast Competition) Spring and Fall terms. Also, I am author of the textbook Statistical Methods in the Atmospheric Sciences.

Selected Publications

• Wilks, D.S., C.J. Neumann, and M.B. Lawrence, 2009. Statistical extension of the National Hurricane Center 5-day forecasts. Weather and Forecasting, 24: 1052-1063.
• Wilks, D.S., 2009, Extending logistic regression to provide full-probability-distribution MOS forecasts. Meteorological Applications, 16: 361-368.
• A gridded multisite weather generator and synchronization to observed weather data. Water Resources Research, in press.
• Wilks, D.S., 2008. Effects of stochastic parameterisations in conceptual climate models. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, in press.
• Wilks, D.S., 2008. Improved statistical seasonal forecasts using extended training data. International Journal of Climatology, 28: 1589-1598.