Citation:

GE, Z. AND W. E. FRICK. SOME STATISTICAL ISSUES RELATED TO MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION MODELING OF BEACH BACTERIA CONCENTRATIONS. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. Academic Press Incorporated, Orlando, FL, 103(3):358-364, (2007).

Impact/Purpose:

A main objective of this task is to combine empirical and physical mechanisms in a model, known as Visual Beach: that is user-friendly; includes point and non-point sources of contamination; includes the latest bacterial decay mechanisms; incorporates real-time and web-based ambient and atmospheric and aquatic conditions; and has a predictive capability of up to three days to help avert potential beach closures. The suite of predictive capabilities for this software application can enhance the utility of new methodology for analysis of indicator pathogens by identifying times that represent the highest probability of bacterial contamination. Successful use of this model will provide a means to direct timely collection of monitoring samples, strengthening the value of the short turnaround time for sampling. Additionally, in some cases of known point sources of bacteria, such as waste water treatment plant discharges, the model can be applied to help guide operational controls to help prevent resulting beach closures.

Description:

As a fast and effective technique, the multiple linear regression (MLR) method has been widely used in modeling and prediction of beach bacteria concentrations. Among previous works on this subject, however, several issues were insufficiently or inconsistently addressed. Those issues include the value and use of interaction terms, the serial correlation, the criteria for model selection, and model assessment. The present work shows that serial correlations, as often present in sequentially observed data records, deserve full attention from the modeler. The testing and adjustment for the time-series effect should be implemented in a statistically rigorous framework.

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