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An open-source software package for multivariate modeling and clustering: applications to air quality management

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Abstract

This paper presents an open-source software package, rSCA, which is developed based upon a stepwise cluster analysis method and serves as a statistical tool for modeling the relationships between multiple dependent and independent variables. The rSCA package is efficient in dealing with both continuous and discrete variables, as well as nonlinear relationships between the variables. It divides the sample sets of dependent variables into different subsets (or subclusters) through a series of cutting and merging operations based upon the theory of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The modeling results are given by a cluster tree, which includes both intermediate and leaf subclusters as well as the flow paths from the root of the tree to each leaf subcluster specified by a series of cutting and merging actions. The rSCA package is a handy and easy-to-use tool and is freely available at http://cran.r-project.org/package=rSCA. By applying the developed package to air quality management in an urban environment, we demonstrate its effectiveness in dealing with the complicated relationships among multiple variables in real-world problems.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Program for Innovative Research Team in University (IRT1127), the 111 Project (B14008), and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada

    Xiuquan Wang & Shan Zhao

  2. Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability Research, UR-NCEPU, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada

    Guohe Huang

  3. Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability Research, UR-NCEPU, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Guohe Huang & Junhong Guo

Authors
  1. Xiuquan Wang
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  2. Guohe Huang
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  3. Shan Zhao
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  4. Junhong Guo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guohe Huang.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Marcus Schulz

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Text S1

Description of the functionality of the rSCA package. (PDF 209 kb)

Text S2

Sample codes and outputs of the application for multivariate modeling. (PDF 184 kb)

Text S3

Sample codes and outputs of the application for multivariate clustering. (PDF 166 kb)

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Wang, X., Huang, G., Zhao, S. et al. An open-source software package for multivariate modeling and clustering: applications to air quality management. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 14220–14233 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4664-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4664-7

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