sampling and kriging spatial means efficiency and conditions采样和克里格空间意味着效率和条件.pdfVIP

Sensors 2009, 9, 5224-5240; doi:10.3390/ OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Sampling and Kriging Spatial Means: Efficiency and Conditions 1, 1 2 Jin-Feng Wang *, Lian-Fa Li and George Christakos 1 Institute of Geographic Sciences Nature Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; E-Mail: lilf@ 2 Department of Geography, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA; E-Mail: gchrista@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: wangjf@; Tel.: +86-10- Fax: +86-10 Received: 11 May 2009; in revised form: 16 June 2009/ Accepted: 29 June 2009 / Published: 2 July 2009 Abstract: Sampling and estimation of geographical attributes that vary across space (e.g., area temperature, urban pollution level, provincial cultivated land, regional population mortality and state agricultural production) are common yet important constituents of many real-world applications. Spatial attribute estimation and the associated accuracy depend on the available sampling design and statistical inference modelling. In the present work, our concern is areal attribute estimation, in which the spatial sampling and Kriging means are compared in terms of mean values, variances of mean values, comparative efficiencies and underlying conditions. Both the theoretical analysis and the empirical study show that the mean Kriging t