Data on water quality and other environmental issues are being collected at an ever-increasing rate. In the past, however, the techniques used by scientists to interpret this data have not progressed as quickly. This is a book of modern statistical methods for analysis of practical problems in water quality and water resources.The last fifteen years have seen major advances in the fields of exploratory data analysis (EDA) and robust statistical methods. The 'real-life' characteristics of environmental data tend to drive analysis towards the use of these methods. These advances are presented in a practical and relevant format. Alternate methods are compared, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each as applied to environmental data. Techniques for trend analysis and dealing with water below the detection limit are topics covered, which are of great interest to consultants in water-quality and hydrology, scientists in state, provincial and federal water resources, and geological survey agencies.The practising water resources scientist will find the worked examples using actual field data from case studies of environmental problems, of real value. Exercises at the end of each chapter enable the mechanics of the methodological process to be fully understood, with data sets included on diskette for easy use. The result is a book that is both up-to-date and immediately relevant to ongoing work in the environmental and water sciences.

Statistics provides tools and strategies for the analysis of data. While much has been written about the methodology, sometimes without reference to data, little has been said about the data. In this volume we present sets of data obtained from many situations without any direct reference to a particular type of analysis. Our view of the usefulness of bringing together a broad collection of sets of data has been shared by many friends and contributors. Students of statistics need to gain facility with their art by applying their knowledge to many sets of data. Textbook examples tend to be small and selected primarily to illustrate a particular technique, thus failing to demonstrate the questioning, iterative nature of statistical analysis. The situations which gave rise to the more extensive sets of data given in this volume are colourful and interesting, and can be readily understood by laymen, students and research workers with diverse interests. These sets were often chosen for their perverse reluctance to yield under the naive application of standard procedures. They do not have correct solutions. They describe situations where the statisti cian can develop skills and learn the limitations of statistical methods.