IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcli/v9y2019i3d10.1038_s41558-019-0404-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Applying big data beyond small problems in climate research

Author

Listed:
  • Benedikt Knüsel

    (Institute for Environmental Decisions
    Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science)

  • Marius Zumwald

    (Institute for Environmental Decisions
    Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science)

  • Christoph Baumberger

    (Institute for Environmental Decisions)

  • Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn

    (Institute for Environmental Decisions)

  • Erich M. Fischer

    (Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science)

  • David N. Bresch

    (Institute for Environmental Decisions
    Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss)

  • Reto Knutti

    (Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science)

Abstract

Commercial success of big data has led to speculation that big-data-like reasoning could partly replace theory-based approaches in science. Big data typically has been applied to ‘small problems’, which are well-structured cases characterized by repeated evaluation of predictions. Here, we show that in climate research, intermediate categories exist between classical domain science and big data, and that big-data elements have also been applied without the possibility of repeated evaluation. Big-data elements can be useful for climate research beyond small problems if combined with more traditional approaches based on domain-specific knowledge. The biggest potential for big-data elements, we argue, lies in socioeconomic climate research.

Suggested Citation

  • Benedikt Knüsel & Marius Zumwald & Christoph Baumberger & Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn & Erich M. Fischer & David N. Bresch & Reto Knutti, 2019. "Applying big data beyond small problems in climate research," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 9(3), pages 196-202, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:9:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1038_s41558-019-0404-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0404-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0404-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41558-019-0404-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marius Zumwald & Benedikt Knüsel & Christoph Baumberger & Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn & David N. Bresch & Reto Knutti, 2020. "Understanding and assessing uncertainty of observational climate datasets for model evaluation using ensembles," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(5), September.
    2. Faxi Yuan & Amir Esmalian & Bora Oztekin & Ali Mostafavi, 2022. "Unveiling spatial patterns of disaster impacts and recovery using credit card transaction fluctuations," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(9), pages 2378-2391, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:9:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1038_s41558-019-0404-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.