Efficient pooling of predictions via kernel embeddings

TL;DR

This paper introduces an efficient method for combining probabilistic predictions using kernel embeddings, resulting in improved forecast accuracy and computational efficiency, especially in wind speed prediction.

Contribution

It presents a convex quadratic optimization approach for kernel-based pooling of probabilistic predictions, extending to a flexible generalization that outperforms traditional linear pooling.

Findings

Kernel embedding enables efficient prediction pooling.

The proposed method improves wind speed forecast accuracy.

Flexible generalization surpasses traditional linear pooling.

Abstract

Probabilistic predictions are probability distributions over the set of possible outcomes. Such predictions quantify the uncertainty in the outcome, making them essential for effective decision making. By combining multiple predictions, the information sources used to generate the predictions are pooled, often resulting in a more informative forecast. Probabilistic predictions are typically combined by linearly pooling the individual predictive distributions; this encompasses several ensemble learning techniques, for example. The weights assigned to each prediction can be estimated based on their past performance, allowing more accurate predictions to receive a higher weight. This can be achieved by finding the weights that optimise a proper scoring rule over some training data. By embedding predictions into a Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS), we illustrate that estimating the linear pool weights that optimise kernel-based scoring rules is a convex quadratic optimisation problem. This permits an efficient implementation of the linear pool when optimally combining predictions on arbitrary outcome domains. This result also holds for other combination strategies, and we additionally study a flexible generalisation of the linear pool that overcomes some of its theoretical limitations, whilst allowing an efficient implementation within the RKHS framework. These approaches are compared in an application to operational wind speed forecasts, where this generalisation is found to offer substantial improvements upon the traditional linear pool.