Lancaster Environment Centre

Peter Young has been at Lancaster University since 1981, when he was appointed as Professor of Environmental Systems and Head of the Environmental Science Department. Having nominally retired in 2005, he is now Professor Emeritus in the Lancaster Environment Centre and continues to do research on a number of different topics.

He has published 5 books and over 250 papers in the open literature. His main research interests are connected with the Data-Based Mechanistic (DBM) modeling, forecasting and control of environmental and other dynamic systems (with a particular interest in hydrology and flow forecasting), as well as automatic control system design. He was one of the first academics, in the early 1960s, to realise the importance of recursive estimation and time series analysis; and he has developed numerous recursive estimation algorithms based on the exploitation of optimal (refined) instrumental variable techniques. These have been applied to a wide variety of systems in areas ranging from the physical environment, through ecology and engineering, to macro-economics.

He has also been active for over 40 years in the development of computer programs for recursive estimation, signal processing, forecasting and stochastic-dynamic system modeling. The most recent of these is the CAPTAIN (Computer-Aided Program for Time Series Analysis and the Identification of Noisy Systems) Toolbox, for use in the Matlab computational software environment (see http://captaintoolbox.co.uk/Captain_Toolbox.html). It has been developed over many years at Lancaster and latterly in LEC, in collaboration with Dr. Wlodek Tych, Dr. James Taylor and others.

His most recently published book is Recursive Estimation and Time Series Analysis: An Introduction for the Student and Practitioner, Springer-Verlag, 2011 (503 pages): see http://www.springer.com/engineering/control/book/978-3-642-21980-1, which can be considered as a companion volume to the CAPTAIN Handbook and contains many, tutorial-style, examples that utilize CAPTAIN routines.

Currently, Peter is working on two research projects. First, the development of methods for Hypothetico-Inductive Data-Based Mechanistic (HI-DBM) modelling, where DBM modelling is used to investigate hypothetico-deductive models (such as the HYMOD rainfall-flow model); diagnose their limitations in explaining the available time series data; and suggest modifications that can improve their explanatory ability. Second, the 'stand-alone' emulation of large, high order computer models by small, low order DBM or HI-DBM models.

The recently published festschrift for Peter (see http://www.springer.com/engineering/control/book/978-0-85729-973-4) contains 30 papers presented at a Workshop in Melbourne, Australia, that was arranged to celebrate his 70th birthday in 2009.