Evaluate forecasts from fitted mvgam objects

Usage

eval_mvgam(
  object,
  n_samples = 5000,
  eval_timepoint = 3,
  fc_horizon = 3,
  n_cores = 1,
  score = "drps",
  log = FALSE,
  weights
)

roll_eval_mvgam(
  object,
  n_evaluations = 5,
  evaluation_seq,
  n_samples = 5000,
  fc_horizon = 3,
  n_cores = 1,
  score = "drps",
  log = FALSE,
  weights
)

compare_mvgams(
  model1,
  model2,
  n_samples = 1000,
  fc_horizon = 3,
  n_evaluations = 10,
  n_cores = 1,
  score = "drps",
  log = FALSE,
  weights
)

Arguments

object: list object returned from mvgam
n_samples: integer specifying the number of samples to generate from the model's posterior distribution
eval_timepoint: integer indexing the timepoint that represents our last 'observed' set of outcome data
fc_horizon: integer specifying the length of the forecast horizon for evaluating forecasts
n_cores: Deprecated. Parallel processing is no longer supported
score: character specifying the type of ranked probability score to use for evaluation. Options are: variogram, drps or crps
log: logical. Should the forecasts and truths be logged prior to scoring? This is often appropriate for comparing performance of models when series vary in their observation ranges
weights: optional vector of weights (where length(weights) == n_series) for weighting pairwise correlations when evaluating the variogram score for multivariate forecasts. Useful for down-weighting series that have larger magnitude observations or that are of less interest when forecasting. Ignored if score != 'variogram'
n_evaluations: integer specifying the total number of evaluations to perform
evaluation_seq: Optional integer sequence specifying the exact set of timepoints for evaluating the model's forecasts. This sequence cannot have values <3 or > max(training timepoints) - fc_horizon
model1: list object returned from mvgam representing the first model to be evaluated
model2: list object returned from mvgam representing the second model to be evaluated

Value

For eval_mvgam, a list object containing information on specific evaluations for each series (if using drps or crps as the score) or a vector of scores when using variogram.

For roll_eval_mvgam, a list object containing information on specific evaluations for each series as well as a total evaluation summary (taken by summing the forecast score for each series at each evaluation and averaging the coverages at each evaluation)

For compare_mvgams, a series of plots comparing forecast Rank Probability Scores for each competing model. A lower score is preferred. Note however that it is possible to select a model that ultimately would perform poorly in true out-of-sample forecasting. For example if a wiggly smooth function of 'year' is included in the model then this function will be learned prior to evaluating rolling window forecasts, and the model could generate very tight predictions as a result. But when forecasting ahead to timepoints that the model has not seen (i.e. next year), the smooth function will end up extrapolating, sometimes in very strange and unexpected ways. It is therefore recommended to only use smooth functions for covariates that are adequately measured in the data (i.e. 'seasonality', for example) to reduce possible extrapolation of smooths and let the latent trends in the mvgam model capture any temporal dependencies in the data. These trends are time series models and so will provide much more stable forecasts

Details

eval_mvgam may be useful when both repeated fitting of a model using update.mvgam for exact leave-future-out cross-validation and approximate leave-future-out cross-validation using lfo_cv are impractical. The function generates a set of samples representing fixed parameters estimated from the full mvgam model and latent trend states at a given point in time. The trends are rolled forward a total of fc_horizon timesteps according to their estimated state space dynamics to generate an 'out-of-sample' forecast that is evaluated against the true observations in the horizon window. This function therefore simulates a situation where the model's parameters had already been estimated but we have only observed data up to the evaluation timepoint and would like to generate forecasts from the latent trends that have been observed up to that timepoint. Evaluation involves calculating an appropriate Rank Probability Score and a binary indicator for whether or not the true value lies within the forecast's 90% prediction interval

roll_eval_mvgam sets up a sequence of evaluation timepoints along a rolling window and iteratively calls eval_mvgam to evaluate 'out-of-sample' forecasts. Evaluation involves calculating the Rank Probability Scores and a binary indicator for whether or not the true value lies within the forecast's 90% prediction interval

compare_mvgams automates the evaluation to compare two fitted models using rolling window forecast evaluation and provides a series of summary plots to facilitate model selection. It is essentially a wrapper for roll_eval_mvgam

Examples

if (FALSE) {
# Simulate from a Poisson-AR2 model with a seasonal smooth
set.seed(100)
dat <- sim_mvgam(T = 75,
                n_series = 1,
                prop_trend = 0.75,
                trend_model = 'AR2',
                family = poisson())


# Fit an appropriate model
mod_ar2 <- mvgam(y ~ s(season, bs = 'cc'),
                trend_model = AR(p = 2),
                family = poisson(),
                data = dat$data_train,
                newdata = dat$data_test,
                chains = 2)

# Fit a less appropriate model
mod_rw <- mvgam(y ~ s(season, bs = 'cc'),
               trend_model = RW(),
               family = poisson(),
               data = dat$data_train,
               newdata = dat$data_test,
               chains = 2)

# Compare Discrete Ranked Probability Scores for the testing period
fc_ar2 <- forecast(mod_ar2)
fc_rw <- forecast(mod_rw)
score_ar2 <- score(fc_ar2, score = 'drps')
score_rw <- score(fc_rw, score = 'drps')
sum(score_ar2$series_1$score)
sum(score_rw$series_1$score)

# Use rolling evaluation for approximate comparisons of 3-step ahead
# forecasts across the training period
compare_mvgams(mod_ar2,
              mod_rw,
              fc_horizon = 3,
              n_samples = 1000,
              n_evaluations = 5)

# Now use approximate leave-future-out CV to compare
# rolling forecasts; start at time point 40 to reduce
# computational time and to ensure enough data is available
# for estimating model parameters
lfo_ar2 <- lfo_cv(mod_ar2,
                 min_t = 40,
                 fc_horizon = 3)
lfo_rw <- lfo_cv(mod_rw,
                min_t = 40,
                fc_horizon = 3)

# Plot Pareto-K values and ELPD estimates
plot(lfo_ar2)
plot(lfo_rw)

# Proportion of timepoints in which AR2 model gives
# better forecasts
length(which((lfo_ar2$elpds - lfo_rw$elpds) > 0)) /
      length(lfo_ar2$elpds)

# A higher total ELPD is preferred
lfo_ar2$sum_ELPD
lfo_rw$sum_ELPD
}