Weather derivatives and stochastic modelling of temperature

Abstract

We propose a continuous-time autoregressive model for the temperature dynamics with volatility being the product of a seasonal function and a stochastic process. We use the Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard model for the stochastic volatility. The proposed temperature dynamics is flexible enough to model temperature data accurately, and at the same time being analytically tractable. Futures prices for commonly traded contracts at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on indices like cooling-and heating-degree days and cumulative average temperatures are computed, as well as option prices on them. Copyright © 2011 F. E. Benth and J. Šaltyte Benth.