Point process-based modeling of multiple debris flow landslides using INLA: an application to the 2009 Messina disaster

We develop a stochastic modeling approach based on spatial point processes of log-Gaussian Cox type for a collection of around 5000 landslide events provoked by a precipitation trigger in Sicily, Italy. Through the embedding into a hierarchical Bayesian estimation framework, we can use the Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation methodology to make inference and obtain the posterior estimates. Several mapping units are useful to partition a given study area in landslide prediction studies. These units hierarchically subdivide the geographic space from the highest grid-based resolution to the stronger morphodynamic-oriented slope units. Here we integrate both mapping units into a single hierarchical model, by treating the landslide triggering locations as a random point pattern. This approach diverges fundamentally from the unanimously used presence-absence structure for areal units since we focus on modeling the expected landslide count jointly within the two mapping units. Predicting this landslide intensity provides more detailed and complete information as compared to the classically used susceptibility mapping approach based on relative probabilities. To illustrate the model's versatility, we compute absolute probability maps of landslide occurrences and check its predictive power over space. While the landslide community typically produces spatial predictive models for landslides only in the sense that covariates are spatially distributed, no actual spatial dependence has been explicitly integrated so far for landslide susceptibility. Our novel approach features a spatial latent effect defined at the slope unit level, allowing us to assess the spatial influence that remains unexplained by the covariates in the model

Max-infinitely divisible models and inference for spatial extremes

For many environmental processes, recent studies have shown that the dependence strength is decreasing when quantile levels increase. This implies that the popular max-stable models are inadequate to capture the rate of joint tail decay, and to estimate joint extremal probabilities beyond observed levels. We here develop a more flexible modeling framework based on the class of max-infinitely divisible processes, which extend max-stable processes while retaining dependence properties that are natural for maxima. We propose two parametric constructions for max-infinitely divisible models, which relax the max-stability property but remain close to some popular max-stable models obtained as special cases. The first model considers maxima over a finite, random number of independent observations, while the second model generalizes the spectral representation of max-stable processes. Inference is performed using a pairwise likelihood. We illustrate the benefits of our new modeling framework on Dutch wind gust maxima calculated over different time units. Results strongly suggest that our proposed models outperform other natural models, such as the Student-t copula process and its max-stable limit, even for large block sizes

Advances in Statistical Modeling of Spatial Extremes

The classical modeling of spatial extremes relies on asymptotic models (i.e., max‐stable or r‐Pareto processes) for block maxima or peaks over high thresholds, respectively. However, at finite levels, empirical evidence often suggests that such asymptotic models are too rigidly constrained, and that they do not adequately capture the frequent situation where more severe events tend to be spatially more localized. In other words, these asymptotic models have a strong tail dependence that persists at increasingly high levels, while data usually suggest that it should weaken instead. Another well‐known limitation of classical spatial extremes models is that they are either computationally prohibitive to fit in high dimensions, or they need to be fitted using less efficient techniques. In this review paper, we describe recent progress in the modeling and inference for spatial extremes, focusing on new models that have more flexible tail structures that can bridge asymptotic dependence classes, and that are more easily amenable to likelihood‐based inference for large datasets. In particular, we discuss various types of random scale constructions, as well as the conditional spatial extremes model, which have recently been getting increasing attention within the statistics of extremes community. We illustrate some of these new spatial models on two different environmental applications

Modeling spatial processes with unknown extremal dependence class

Many environmental processes exhibit weakening spatial dependence as events become more extreme. Well-known limiting models, such as max-stable or generalized Pareto processes, cannot capture this, which can lead to a preference for models that exhibit a property known as asymptotic independence. However, weakening dependence does not automatically imply asymptotic independence, and whether the process is truly asymptotically (in)dependent is usually far from clear. The distinction is key as it can have a large impact upon extrapolation, that is, the estimated probabilities of events more extreme than those observed. In this work, we present a single spatial model that is able to capture both dependence classes in a parsimonious manner, and with a smooth transition between the two cases. The model covers a wide range of possibilities from asymptotic independence through to complete dependence, and permits weakening dependence of extremes even under asymptotic dependence. Censored likelihood-based inference for the implied copula is feasible in moderate dimensions due to closed-form margins. The model is applied to oceanographic datasets with ambiguous true limiting dependence structure. Supplementary materials for this article are available online

Full Likelihood Inference For Max-Stable Distributions Based on a Stochastic EM Algorithm

Max-stable distributions are widely used for the modeling of multivariate extreme events, as they arise as natural limits of renormalized componentwise maxima of random vectors. However, when the dimension is large, the number of terms involved in the likelihood function becomes extremely large, making it intractable for classical inference. In practice, composite likelihoods are often used instead, but suffer from a loss in efficiency. In this talk, an alternative approach to perform full likelihood inference based on an EM algorithm is explored, where an additional random partition associated to the occurrence times of maxima is introduced. Treating this partition as a missing observation, the completed likelihood becomes simple and a (stochastic) EM algorithm may be used to maximize the full likelihood. The performance of this novel approach will be illustrated with numerical results based on the logistic model. \[ Joint work with Clement Dombry, Marc Genton and Mathieu Ribatet. \[ Reference : Ailliot P., Delyon B., Monbet V., Prevosto M. Dependent time changed processes with applications to nonlinear ocean waves. arXiv:1510.02302,Non UBCUnreviewedAuthor affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyFacult