MultiScale CUSUM Tests for Time-Dependent Spherical Random Fields

This paper investigates the asymptotic behavior of structural break tests in the harmonic domain for time-dependent spherical random fields. In particular, we prove a Functional Central Limit Theorem result for the fluctuations over time of the sample spherical harmonic coefficients, under the null of isotropy and stationarity; furthermore, we prove consistency of the corresponding CUSUM test, under a broad range of alternatives. Our results are then applied to NCEP data on global temperature: our estimates suggest that Climate Change does not simply affect global average temperatures, but also the nature of spatial fluctuations at different scales.