Exploring Uncertainties in Flood Frequency Analysis Using Bayesian MCMC Method

A probabilistic graphical model approach to stochastic multiscale partial differential equations

Airport air traffic is one of the most important and hardest one among all the airport data forecasts. In this paper, the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method of applied theory of statistics has been introduced into the aviation sector, and the discussion on airport air traffic forecast has been conducted taking Shanghai airport as the application background. MCMC method is designed to solve the problem parameters expectations where some baysian inference can not be directly calculated. This paper conducts the iterative computation using WinBUGS, EViews is used to estimate the initial iteration parameter of the regression model, and it is on this basis that the regression equation under the MCMC method is obtained.

Probabilistic Prediction Model for the Chloride Diffusion Coefficient of Concrete under Tensile and Compressive Stresses

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods offer a rapid parametric approach that can test for linkage throughout the entire genome. It has an advantage similar to nonparametric methods in that the model does not have to be completely specified a priori. However, unlike nonparametric methods, there are no limitations on pedigree size and MCMC methods can also handle relatively complex pedigree structures. In addition MCMC methods can be used to carry segregation analysis in order to answer questions on the genetic components of a disease phenotype. Segregation analysis gave evidence for between two and eight alcoholism susceptibility loci, each having a modest effect on the phenotype. MCMC methods were used to map alcoholism loci using the phenotypes ALDX1 (DSM-III-R and Feighner criteria) and ALDX2 (World Health Organization diagnosis ICD-10 criteria). There was mild evidence for quantitative trait loci on chromosomes 2, 10, and 11.

Probabilistic learning of nonlinear dynamical systems using sequential Monte Carlo

The Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) has led to a harmonization of uncertainty evaluation throughout metrology. The simplicity of its employed methodology has fostered the broad acceptance of the GUM among metrologists. However, this simplicity also compromises best practice and does not provide state-of-the-art data analysis. Specifically, metrologists often possess useful prior knowledge about the measurand which cannot be accounted for by the GUM. Bayesian uncertainty evaluation, on the other hand, takes prior knowledge about the measurand as its starting point. While this technique has been successfully applied in several instances in metrology, its broad access for metrologists is still lacking. One reason for this is that application of Bayesian methods and their computation, e.g. by means of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, usually requires statistical skills.In this work, we propose a simple method for Bayesian uncertainty evaluation applicable to measurement models that depend linearly on a single input quantity for which Type A information is available, and several input quantities for which Type B information is given. This category of measurement models covers many uncertainty evaluations in metrology. The approach utilizes a specific class of prior distributions to encode the prior information about the measurand. Explicit guidance is provided on how to choose the parameters of the prior in the light of one’s prior knowledge. MCMC methods are not required for the calculation of results; instead, a simple Monte Carlo procedure is developed that allows to draw uncorrelated samples from the posterior distribution, which greatly simplifies convergence assessments. The proposed Bayesian approach allows the treatment of small numbers of observations for a Type A uncertainty evaluation, including the case of only a single observation. Examples are provided that illustrate the proposed approach and corresponding open source Python software is made available.

저수분석(low flow analysis)은 수자원공학에서 중요한 분야 중 하나이며, 특히 저수량 빈도분석(low flow frequency analysis)의 결과는 저수(貯水)용량의 설계, 물 수급계획, 오염원의 배치 및 관개와 생태계의 보존을 위한 수량과 수질의 관리에 중요하게 사용된다. 그러므로 본 연구에서는 저수량 빈도분석을 위한 점 빈도분석을 수행하였으며, 특히 빈도분석에 있어서의 불확실성을 탐색하기 위하여 Bayesian 방법을 적용하고 그 결과를 기존에 사용되던 불확실성 탐색방법과 비교하였다. 본 논문의Ⅰ편에서는 Bayesian 방법 중 사전분포(prior distribution)와 우도함수(likelihood function)의 복잡성에 상관없이 계산이 가능한 Bayesian MCMC(Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo) 방법과 Metropolis-Hastings 알고리즘을 사용하기 위한 여러 과정의 이론적 배경과 Bayesian 방법에서 가장 중요한 요소인 사전분포를 구축하고 이를 비교 및 평가하였다. 고려된 사전분포는 자료에 기반하지 않은 사전분포와 자료에 기반한 사전분포로써 두 사전분포를 이용하여 Metropolis-Hastings 알고리즘을 수행하고 그 결과를 비교하여 저수량 빈도분석에 합리적인 사전분포를 선정하였다. 또한 알고리즘의 수행과정에서 필요한 제안분포(proposal distribution)를 적용하여 그에 따른 알고리즘의 효율성을 채택률(acceptance rate)을 산정하여 검증해 보았다. 사전분포의 분석 결과, 자료에 기반한 사전분포가 자료에 기반하지 않은 사전분포보다 정확성 및 불확실성의 표현에 있어서 우수한 결과를 제시하는 것을 확인할 수 있었고, 채택률을 이용한 알고리즘의 효용성 역시 기존 연구자들이 제시하였던 만족스러운 범위를 가지는 것을 알 수 있었다. 최종적으로 선정된 사전분포는 본 연구의 II편에서 Bayesian MCMC방법의 사전분포로 이용되었으며, 그 결과를 기존 불확실성의 추정방법의 하나인 2차 근사식을 이용한 최우추정(maximum likelihood estimation)방법의 결과와 비교하였다. The low flow analysis is an important part in water resources engineering. Also, the results of low flow frequency analysis can be used for design of reservoir storage, water supply planning and design, waste-load allocation, and maintenance of quantity and quality of water for irrigation and wild life conservation. Especially, for identification of the uncertainty in frequency analysis, the Bayesian approach is applied and compared with conventional methodologies in at-site low flow frequency analysis. In the first manuscript, the theoretical background for the Bayesian MCMC (Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo) method and Metropolis-Hasting algorithm are studied. Two types of the prior distribution, a non-data- based and a data-based prior distributions are developed and compared to perform the Bayesian MCMC method. It can be suggested that the results of a data-based prior distribution is more effective than those of a non-data-based prior distribution. The acceptance rate of the algorithm is computed to assess the effectiveness of the developed algorithm. In the second manuscript, the Bayesian MCMC method using a data-based prior distribution and MLE(Maximum Likelihood Estimation) using a quadratic approximation are performed for the at-site low flow frequency analysis.

Sampling technique is one of the asymptotically unbiased estimation approaches for inference in Bayesian probabilistic models. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is a kind of sampling methods, which is widely used in the inference of complex probabilistic models. However, current MCMC methods can incur high autocorrelation of samples, which means that the samples generated by MCMC samplers are far from independent. In this paper, we propose the neural networks Langevin Monte Carlo (NNLMC) which makes full use of the flexibility of neural networks and the high efficiency of the Langevin dynamics sampling to construct a new MCMC sampling method. We propose the new update function to generate samples and employ appropriate loss functions to improve the performance of NNLMC during the process of sampling. We evaluate our method on a large diversity of challenging distributions and real datasets. Our results show that NNLMC is able to sample from the target distribution with low autocorrelation and rapid convergence, and outperforms the state-of-the-art MCMC samplers.

A recently developed Bayesian Monte Carlo (BMC) method and its application to safety assessment of structures are described in this paper. We use a one-dimensional BMC method that was proposed in 2009 by Rajabalinejad in order to develop a weighted logical dependence between successive Monte Carlo simulations. Our main objective in this research is to show that the extended BMC can dramatically improve simulation efficiency by using prior information from modelling and outcomes of preceding simulations. We provide theory and numerical algorithms for an extended BMC method for multi-dimensional problems, integrate it with a probabilistic finite element model and apply these coupled models to assessment of reliability of a flood defence for the 17th Street Flood Wall system in New Orleans. This is the first successful demonstration of the BMC method to a complex system. We provide a comparison of the numerical efficiency for the BMC, Monte Carlo (MC) and Dynamic Bounds methods that are used in reliability assessment of complex infrastructures.

Identification of contaminant sources in rivers is crucial for river protection and emergency response. This study presents an innovative approach for identifying river pollution sources by using Bayesian inference and cellular automata (CA) modeling. A general Bayesian framework is proposed that combines the CA model with observed data to identify unknown sources of river pollution. To reduce the computational burden of the Bayesian inference, a CA contaminant transport model is developed to efficiently simulate pollutant concentration values in the river. These simulated concentration values are then used to calculate the likelihood function of available measurements. The Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is used to produce the posterior distribution of contaminant source parameters, which is a sampling-based method that enables the estimation of complex posterior distributions. The suggested methodology is applied to a real case study of the Fen River in Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, Northern China, and it estimates the release time, release mass, and source location with relative errors below 19%. The research indicates that the proposed methodology is an effective and flexible way to identify the location and concentrations of river contaminant sources.

In this paper, the authors outline the general principles behind an approach to Bayesian system identification and highlight the benefits of adopting a Bayesian framework when attempting to identify models of nonlinear dynamical systems in the presence of uncertainty. It is then described how, through a summary of some key algorithms, many of the potential difficulties associated with a Bayesian approach can be overcome through the use of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. The paper concludes with a case study, where an MCMC algorithm is used to facilitate the Bayesian system identification of a nonlinear dynamical system from experimentally observed acceleration time histories.

The maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches for parameter estimations and prediction of future record values have been considered for the two-parameter Burr Type XII distribution based on record values with the number of trials following the record values (inter-record times). Firstly, the Bayes estimates are obtained based on a joint bivariate prior for the shape parameters. In this case, the Bayes estimates of the parameters have been developed by using Lindley's approximation and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method due to the lack of explicit forms under the squared error and the linear-exponential loss functions. The MCMC method has been also used to construct the highest posterior density credible intervals. Secondly, the Bayes estimates are obtained with respect to a discrete prior for the first shape parameter and a conjugate prior for other shape parameter. The Bayes and the maximum likelihood estimates are compared in terms of the estimated risk by the Monte Carlo simulations. We further consider the non-Bayesian and Bayesian prediction for future lower record arising from the Burr Type XII distribution based on record data. The comparison of the derived predictors is carried out by using Monte Carlo simulations. A real data are analysed for illustration purposes.

To meet the goal of tenfold increase in spectral efficiency, interference cancellation and multiuser detection are expected to be important tasks of fifth-generation (5G) radio access systems. Both tasks can be realized by joint detection algorithms. However, joint detection algorithms such as maximum likelihood (ML) detection have a high computational complexity. Previous works have shown that joint detectors based on Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods can achieve similar results compared to ML detection with a large reduction in the computational complexity for systems with a large number of streams or users. The purpose of this work is to present a MIMO joint detector based on MCMC methods and evaluate it within the constraints of LTE Advanced (LTE-A), namely, using at most 8 transmit antennas and 64-QAM modulation. The evaluation is done separately from the channel decoder. Moreover, the complexity of the presented algorithm is compared to the one of an ML detector. The results show that the proposed MIMO detector offers a similar detection error rate compared to an ML detector. Furthermore, it was observed that the complexity reduction is significant for systems with more than six transmit antennas.

Generalised absolute risk models were fitted to the latest Japanese atomic bomb survivor cancer incidence data using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, taking account of random errors in the DS86 dose estimates. The resulting uncertainty distributions in the relative risk model parameters were used to derive uncertainties in population cancer risks for a current UK population. Because of evidence for irregularities in the low-dose dose response, flexible dose-response models were used, consisting of a linear-quadratic-exponential model, used to model the high-dose part of the dose response, together with piecewise-linear adjustments for the two lowest dose groups. Following an assumed administered dose of 0.001 Sv, lifetime leukaemia radiation-induced incidence risks were estimated to be 1.11 x 10(-2) Sv(-1) (95% Bayesian CI -0.61, 2.38) using this model. Following an assumed administered dose of 0.001 Sv, lifetime solid cancer radiation-induced incidence risks were calculated to be 7.28 x 10(-2) Sv(-1) (95% Bayesian CI -10.63, 22.10) using this model. Overall, cancer incidence risks predicted by Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods are similar to those derived by classical likelihood-based methods and which form the basis of established estimates of radiation-induced cancer risk.

Cooling loss during transmission from cooling sources (chillers) to cooling end-users (conditioned zones) is prevalent in HVAC systems. At the HVAC design stage, incomplete understanding of the cooling loss may lead to improper sizing of HVAC systems, which in turn may result in additional energy consumption and economic cost (if oversized) or lead to inadequate thermal comfort (if under-sized). For HVAC system sizing or retrofit, there is a lack of study of uncertainties associated with the maximum cooling loss of HVAC systems although uncertainties in predicting building maximum cooling load have been studied by many researchers. This paper, therefore, proposes a study to investigate the uncertainties associated with the major parameters in predicting the maximum cooling loss in HVAC piping networks using the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. Prior information of those uncertainties combined with available in-situ data, is implemented to produce more informative posterior descriptions of the uncertainties. To facilitate the application, uncertain parameters are categorized into specific and generic types. The posterior information gathered for the specific parameters can be used in retrofit analysis, whereas that acquired for the generic parameters can be referred to in new HVAC system design. Details of the proposed methodology are illustrated by applying it to a real HVAC system.