Copulas for hydroclimatic analysis: A practice-oriented overview

One function that can be used in analyzing the risks of compound events, given their disproportionately high adverse impacts is Copula. This mathematical function expresses the joint cumulative probability distribution of multiple variables.

CNDS Fellow, Faranak Tootoonchi (Uppsala University), together with colleagues worked on emphasizing this function's fundamental requirements and application limitations. The paper makes sure to:

• "provide end-users with a didactic overview of necessary requirements, statistical assumptions and consequential limitations of copulas,
• synthesize common perceptions and practices, and
• offer a user-friendly decision support framework to employ copulas, thereby support researchers and practitioners in addressing hydroclimatic hazards, hence demystify what can be an area of confusion".

The entire overview can be accessed on WIREs website.