Exact simulation of max-stable processes

Abstract: Max-stable processes play an important role as models for spatial extreme events. Their complex structure as the pointwise maximum over an infinite number of random functions makes simulation highly nontrivial. Algorithms based on finite approximations that are used in practice are often not exact and computationally inefficient. We will present two algorithms for exact simulation of a max-stable process at a finite number of locations. The first algorithm generalizes the approach by \citet{DM-2014} for Brown--Resnick processes and it is based on simulation from the spectral measure. The second algorithm relies on the idea to simulate only the extremal functions, that is, those functions in the construction of a max-stable process that effectively contribute to the pointwise maximum. We study the complexity of both algorithms and prove that the second procedure is always more efficient. Moreover, we provide closed expressions for their implementation that cover the most popular models for max-stable processes and extreme value copulas. For simulation on dense grids, an adaptive design of the second algorithm is proposed.