On the influence of kriging parameters on the cartographic output—A study in mapping subglacial topography

Geostatistics provides a suite of methods, summarized as kriging, to analyze a finite data set to describe a continuous property of the Earth. Kriging methods consist of moving window optimum estimation techniques, which are based on a least-squares principle and use a spatial structure function, usually the variogram. Applications of kriging techniques have become increasingly wide-spread, with ordinary kriging and universal kriging being the most popular ones. The dependence of the final map or model on the input, however, is not generally understood. Herein we demonstrate how changes in the kriging parameters and the neighborhood search affect the cartographic result. Principles are illustrated through a glaciological study. The objective is to map ice thickness and subglacial topography of Storglaciären, Kebnekaise Massif, northern Sweden, from several sets of radio-echo soundings and hot water drillings. New maps are presented.     

Correcting the Smoothing Effect of Ordinary Kriging Estimates

The smoothing effect of ordinary kriging is a well-known dangerous effect associated with this estimation technique. Consequently kriging estimates do not reproduce both histogram and semivariogram model of sample data. A four-step procedure for correcting the smoothing effect of ordinary kriging estimates is shown to be efficient for the reproduction of histogram and semivariogram without loss of local accuracy. Furthermore, this procedure provides a unique map sharing both local and global accuracies. Ordinary kriging with a proper correction for smoothing effect can be revitalized as a reliable estimation method that allows a better use of the available information.     

Dual Kriging with Local Neighborhoods: Application to the Representation of Surfaces

Ordinary kriging, in its common formulation, is a discrete estimator in that it requires the solution of a kriging system for each point in space in which an estimate is sought. The dual formulation of ordinary kriging provides a continuous estimator since, for a given set of data, only a kriging system has to be estimated and the resulting estimate is a function continuously defined in space. The main problem with dual kriging up to now has been that its benefits can only be capitalized if a global neighborhood is used. A formulation is proposed to solve the problem of patching together dual kriging estimates obtained with data from different neighborhoods by means of a blending belt around each neighborhood. This formulation ensures continuity of the variable and, if needed, of its first derivative along neighbor borders. The final result is an analytical formulation of the interpolating surface that can be used to compute gradients, cross-sections, or volumes; or for the quick evaluation of the interpolating surface in numerous locations.     

Application of geostatistics to identify gold-rich areas in the Finisterre-Fervenza region,NW Spain

Three univariate geostatistical methods of estimation are applied to a geochemical data set. The studied methods are: ordinary kriging (cross-validation), factorial kriging, and indicator kriging. These techniques use the probabilistic and spatial behaviour of geochemical variables, giving a tool for identifying potential anomalous areas to locate mineralization. Ordinary kriging is easy to apply and to interpret the results. It has the advantage of using the same experimental grid points for its estimates, and no additional grid points are needed. Factorial kriging decomposes the raw variable into as many components as there are identified structures in the variogram. This, however, is a complex method and its application is more difficult than that of ordinary or indicator kriging. The main advantages of indicator kriging are that data are used by their rank order, being more robust about outlier values, and that the presentation of results is simple. Nevertheless, indicator kriging is incapable of separating anomalous values and the high values from the background, which have a behaviour different to the anomaly. In this work, the results of the application of these 3 kriging methods to a set of mineral exploration data obtained from a geochemical survey carried out in NW Spain are presented. This area is characterised by the presence of Au mineral occurrences. The kriging methods were applied to As, considered as a pathfinder of Au in this area. Numerical treatment of Au is not applicable, because it presents most values equal to the detection limit, and a series of extreme values. The results of the application of ordinary kriging, factorial kriging and indicator kriging to As make possible the location of a series of rich values, sited along a N–S shear zone, considered a structure related to the presence of Au.     

An Alternative Measure of the Reliability of Ordinary Kriging Estimates

This paper presents an interpolation variance as an alternative to the measure of the reliability of ordinary kriging estimates. Contrary to the traditional kriging variance, the interpolation variance is data-values dependent, variogram dependent, and a measure of local accuracy. Natural phenomena are not homogeneous; therefore, local variability as expressed through data values must be recognized for a correct assessment of uncertainty. The interpolation variance is simply the weighted average of the squared differences between data values and the retained estimate. Ordinary kriging or simple kriging variances are the expected values of interpolation variances; therefore, these traditional homoscedastic estimation variances cannot properly measure local data dispersion. More precisely, the interpolation variance is an estimate of the local conditional variance, when the ordinary kriging weights are interpreted as conditional probabilities associated to the n neighboring data. This interpretation is valid if, and only if, all ordinary kriging weights are positive or constrained to be such. Extensive tests illustrate that the interpolation variance is a useful alternative to the traditional kriging variance.     

Application of universal kriging for estimation of earthquake ground motion: Statistical significance of results

Universal kriging is compared with ordinary kriging for estimation of earthquake ground motion. Ordinary kriging is based on a stationary random function model; universal kriging is based on a nonstationary random function model representing first-order drift. Accuracy of universal kriging is compared with that for ordinary kriging; cross-validation is used as the basis for comparison. Hypothesis testing on these results shows that accuracy obtained using universal kriging is not significantly different from accuracy obtained using ordinary kriging. Tests based on normal distribution assumptions are applied to errors measured in the cross-validation procedure;t andF tests reveal no evidence to suggest universal and ordinary kriging are different for estimation of earthquake ground motion. Nonparametric hypothesis tests applied to these errors and jackknife statistics yield the same conclusion: universal and ordinary kriging are not significantly different for this application as determined by a cross-validation procedure. These results are based on application to four independent data sets (four different seismic events).     

Spatial interpolation of severely skewed data with several peak values by the approach integrating kriging and triangular irregular network interpolation

It was not unusual in soil and environmental studies that the distribution of data is severely skewed with several high peak values, which causes the difficulty for Kriging with data transformation to make a satisfied prediction. This paper tested an approach that integrates kriging and triangular irregular network interpolation to make predictions. A data set consisting of total Copper (Cu) concentrations of 147 soil samples, with a skewness of 4.64 and several high peak values, from a copper smelting contaminated site in Zhejiang Province, China. The original data were partitioned into two parts. One represented the holistic spatial variability, followed by lognormal distribution, and then was interpolated by lognormal ordinary kriging. The other assumed to show the local variability of the area that near to high peak values, and triangular irregular network interpolation was applied. These two predictions were integrated into one map. This map was assessed by comparing with rank-order ordinary kriging and normal score ordinary kriging using another data set consisting of 54 soil samples of Cu in the same region. According to the mean error and root mean square error, the approach integrating lognormal ordinary kriging and triangular irregular network interpolation could make improved predictions over rank-order ordinary kriging and normal score ordinary kriging for the severely skewed data with several high peak values.     

Comparison between different kriging estimators

Six different geostatistical estimators (linear kriging, lognormal kriging, and disjunctive kriging, each with and without a nonbias, i.e., universality condition) were compared using data from a polymetallic deposit in Algeria. The differences between estimators with and without the nonbias condition were far more pronounced than between the different kriging methods. This highlights the importance of choosing an appropriate stationarity model for the data. The criterion concerning kriging weight of the mean in simple kriging, proposed by Remacre (1984, 1987) and Rivoirard (1984) was found to be helpful for determining blocks where the choice of the stationarity hypothesis was critical.     

Determining the best search neighbourhood in reserve estimation, using geostatistical method: A case study anomaly No 12A iron deposit in central Iran

Ordinary kriging and non-linear geostatistical estimators are now well accepted methods in mining grade control and mine reserve estimation. In kriging, the search volume or ‘kriging neighbourhood’ is defined by the user. The definition of the search space can have a significant impact on the outcome of the kriging estimate. In particular, too restrictive neighbourhood, can result in serious conditional bias. Kriging is commonly described as a ‘minimum variance estimator’ but this is only true when the neighbourhood is properly selected. Arbitrary decisions about search space are highly risky. The criteria to consider when evaluating a particular kriging neighbourhood are the slope of the regression of the ‘true’ and ‘estimated’ block grades, the number of kriging negative weights and the kriging variance. Search radius is one of the most important parameters of search volume which often is determined on the basis of influence of the variogram. In this paper the above-mentioned parameters are used to determine optimal search radius.     

Comparison of ordinary and disjunctive kriging in an Indian iron ore deposit

This paper presents the results of disjunctive kriging applied to a supergene iron ore deposit of Bailadila Range of India. Disjunctive kriging is applied firstly to compare estimates of the blocks by ordinary kriging and secondly to estimate benchwise local recoverable reserves of the orebody. Good agreement exists between block estimates by ordinary kriging and disjunctive kriging except for peripheral blocks with less borehole information. Estimation of benchwise reserves shows that the behavior of the distribution of grades is different in various benches. The study shows that disjunctive kriging can be applied successfully for estimation of local recoverable reserves in the case of a good grade hematite iron ore deposit.     

Mapping Curvilinear Structures with Local Anisotropy Kriging

Interpolating geo-data with curvilinear structures using geostatistics is often disappointing. Channels, for example, become disconnected sets of lakes when interpolated from point data. In order to improve the interpolation of geological structures (e.g., curvilinear structures), we present a new form of kriging, local anisotropy kriging (LAK). Local anisotropy kriging combines a gradient algorithm from image analysis with kriging in an iterative way. After an initial standard kriging interpolation, the gradient algorithm determines the local anisotropy for each cell in the grid using a search area around the cell. Subsequently, kriging is carried out with the spatially varying anisotropy. The anisotropy calculation and subsequent kriging steps will then succeed until the result is satisfactory in the way of reproducing the curvilinear structures. Depending on the size of the search area more or less detail in the geological structures can be reproduced with LAK. Using test examples we show that LAK interpolates data with curvilinear structures more realistically than standard kriging. In a real world case, using bathymetric data of the Oosterschelde estuary, LAK also proves to be quantitatively superior to standard kriging. Absolute interpolation errors are decreased by 23%. Local anisotropy kriging only uses information from point data, which makes the method very objective, it only presents “what the data can tell.”     

Disjunctive kriging, universal kriging, or no kriging: Small sample results with simulated fields

This paper provides a comparison between linear (universal) and nonlinear (disjunctive) kriging estimators when they are computed from small samples chosen randomly on simulated stationary and nonstationary fields. Point estimation results are reported. In all cases considered, kriging estimators were found better than a local mean estimator, with universal kriging either better than or as good as disjunctive kriging. The latter, which is suited to handle stationary fields, did not provide more accurate estimates because the use of small samples led to inconsistencies in the assumed bivariate model. Universal kriging was particularly better with nonstationary fields.     

Compensating for estimation smoothing in kriging

Smoothing is a characteristic inherent to all minimum mean-square-error spatial estimators such as kriging. Cross-validation can be used to detect and model such smoothing. Inversion of the model produces a new estimator—compensated kriging. A numerical comparison based on an exhaustive permeability sampling of a 4-ft² slab of Berea Sandstone shows that the estimation surface generated by compensated kriging has properties intermediate between those generated by ordinary kriging and stochastic realizations resulting from simulated annealing and sequential Gaussian simulation. The frequency distribution is well reproduced by the compensated kriging surface, which also approximates the experimental semivariogram well—better than ordinary kriging, but not as well as stochastic realizations. Compensated kriging produces surfaces that are more accurate than stochastic realizations, but not as accurate as ordinary kriging.     

Comparison of statistical prediction methods for characterizing the spatial variability of apparent electrical conductivity in coastal salt-affected farmland

Soil salinity has been known to be problematic to land productivity and environment in the lower Yellow River Delta due to the presence of a shallow, saline water table and marine sediments. Spatial information on soil salinity has gained increasing importance for the demand of management and sustainable utilization of arable land in this area. Apparent electrical conductivity, as measured by electromagnetic induction instrument in a fairly quick manner, has succeeded in mapping soil salinity and many other soil physical and chemical properties from field to regional scales. This was done based on the correlation that existed between apparent electrical conductivity and many other soil properties. In this paper, four spatial prediction methods, i.e., local polynomial, inverse distance weighed, ordinary kriging and universal kriging, were employed to estimate field-scale apparent electrical conductivity with the aid of an electromagnetic induction instrument (type EM38). The spatial patterns estimated by the four methods using EM38 survey datasets of various sample sizes were compared with those generated by each method using the entire sample size. Spatial similarity was evaluated using difference index (DI) between the maps created using various sample sizes (i.e., target maps) and the maps generated with the entire sample size (i.e., the reference map). The results indicated that universal kriging had the best performance owing to the inclusion of residuals and spatial detrending in the kriging system. DI showed that spatial similarity between the target and reference maps of apparent electrical conductivity decreased with the reduction in sample size for each prediction method. Under the same reduction in sample size, the method retaining the most spatial similarity was universal kriging, followed by ordinary kriging, inverse distance weighed, and local polynomial. Approximately, 70 % of total survey data essentially met the need for retaining 90 % details of the reference map for universal kriging and ordinary kriging methods. This conclusion was that OK and UK were two most appropriate methods for spatial estimation of apparent electrical conductivity as they were robust with the reduction in sample size.     

The updated kriging variance and optimal sample design

A number of criteria based on kriging variance calculations may be used for infill sampling design in geologic site characterization. Searching for the best new sample locations from a set of candidate locations can result in excessive computation time if these criteria and the naive rekriging are used. The relative updated kriging estimate and variance for universal kriging estimation are demonstrated as a simple kriging estimate and variance, respectively. The updated kriging variance is demonstrated as the multiplication of two kriging variances. Using these updated kriging variance equations can increase the computational speed for selecting the best new sample locations. The application results for oil rock thickness in an oilfield indicate that minimizing the average relative updated kriging variance is a useful alternative to the other criteria based on kriging variance in optimal infill sampling design for geologic site characterization.     

The kriging update equations and their application to the selection of neighboring data

A key problem in the application of kriging is the definition of a local neighborhood in which to search for the most relevant data. A usual practice consists in selecting data close to the location targeted for prediction and, at the same time, distributed as uniformly as possible around this location, in order to discard data conveying redundant information. This approach may however not be optimal, insofar as it does not account for the data spatial correlation. To improve the kriging neighborhood definition, we first examine the effect of including one or more data and present equations in order to quickly update the kriging weights and kriging variances. These equations are then applied to design a stepwise selection algorithm that progressively incorporates the most relevant data, i.e., the data that make the kriging variance decrease more. The proposed algorithm is illustrated on a soil contamination dataset.     

Reducing the Impact of Outliers in Ore Reserves Estimation

Mining applications commonly faces surprising high values designated as outliers. These values impact dramatically statistical analysis and interpretation. A comprehensive analysis on the causes for the presence of unexpected high values was recommended. However, if an erroneous value was accepted as a part of the solution, some form of correction is recommended. A methodology based on the robust kriging (RoK) algorithm is proposed to be used in exploratory data analysis and also to deal with problems associated with the presence of outliers in the sample data set. The efficiency of RoK method as an interpolator is tested in different types of mineralizations. Importantly, the parent population from which the data was sampled is available, thus allowing direct quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of the estimation technique. The performance of the method is tested in the context of ore reserves estimation. RoK model is compared to models generated by ordinary kriging, median indicator kriging, and lognormal kriging. RoK proved to be more accurate and more precise than those methods reducing substantially the number of misclassified blocks.     

The multigaussian approach and its applications to the estimation of local reserves

The performance of the geostatistical techniques of disjunctive kriging and multigaussian kriging for the estimation of local recovered reserves are compared using a simulated deposit.     

On the equivalence of kriging and maximum entropy estimators

This study compares kriging and maximum entropy estimators for spatial estimation and monitoring network design. For second-order stationary random fields (a subset of Gaussian fields) the estimators and their associated interpolation error variances are identical. Simple lognormal kriging differs from the lognormal maximum entropy estimator, however, in both mathematical formulation and estimation error variances. Two numerical examples are described that compare the two estimators. Simple lognormal kriging yields systematically higher estimates and smoother interpolation surfaces compared to those produced by the lognormal maximum entropy estimator. The second empirical comparison applies kriging and entropy-based models to the problem of optimizing groundwater monitoring network design, using six alternative objective functions. The maximum entropy-based sampling design approach is shown to be the more computationally efficient of the two.