Inférence topologique
Data coming from a fine sampling of a continuous process (random field) can be represented as images. A statistical test aiming at detecting a difference between two images can be seen as a group of tests in which each pixel is compared to the corresponding pixel in the other image. We then use a method to  control the type I error over all the tests, such as the Bonferroni correction or the control of the false discovery rate (FDR). Methods of data analysis have been developped in the field of medical imaging, mainly by Keith Worsley, using the geometry of random fields in order to build a global statistical test over the whole image. The expected Euler characteristic of the excursion set of the random field underlying the sample over a given threshold  is used in order to determine the probability that the random field exceeds this same threshold under the null hypothesis (topological inference).  We present some notions relevant to random fields, in particular isotropy (the covariance function between two given points of a field depends only on the distance between them). We discuss two methods for the analysis of non\-isotropic random fields. The first one consists in deforming the field and then using the intrinsic volumes and the Euler characteristic densities. The second one uses the Lipschitz-Killing curvatures. We then perform a study of sensitivity and power of the topological inference technique comparing it to the Bonferonni correction. Finally, we use topological inference in order to describe the evolution of climate change over Quebec territory between 1991 and 2100 using temperature data simulated and published by the Climate Simulation Team at Ouranos, with the Canadian Regional Climate Model CRCM4.2.
Multiple comparisons Euler characteristic Random fields Isotropy Lipschitz-Killing curvatures Climate change