Data Analysis in Earth Sciences

Abstract

Earth scientists make observations and gather data about the natural processes that operate on planet Earth. They formulate and test hypotheses on the forces that have acted on a particular region to create its structure and also make predictions about future changes to the planet. All of these steps in exploring the Earth involve the acquisition and analysis of numerical data. An earth scientist therefore needs to have a firm understanding of statistical and numerical methods as well as the ability to utilize relevant computer soft ware packages, in order to be able to analyze the acquired data.