Interpolation, Surface Models, and Geostatistical Methods

Creating continuous surfaces from measurements at discrete points

Surface Models - Topics

Examples of use Input data Interpolation
Thiessen Polygon example Inverse Distance Weighted Example Splines and Kriging

Kriging methods

Elevation & Contours - the most common example of interpolated surface

Digital Elevation Models

Digital representation of the continuous variation of relief over space Form the base, or backbone, of landscape Applied to hydrological models, visibility analysis, erosion studies Interpolation is fundamental to DEM production

DEM Derivatives
Slope - the steepness of the land
used in many environmental models, especially those involving water and erosion

Aspect - the direction the slope is facing

provides shaded relief image of surface as well as being useful for analysis

Hillshade, & Visibility

Interpolation in Epidemiology Examples

Disease incidence
cancer by county Lyme disease by state

Risk maps Vector density Other environmental factors

temperature concentration of mercury

Choropleth version

Lyme Disease Forecast

Kriged version

Oak Ridge K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant Risk Map from Oak Ridge National Labs, Tennessee, U.S. using spline interpolation

Spatial distribution of nymphs in Rhode Island , 1993, based on ordinary kriging estimate of point samples of tick densities in forested habitats (Nicholson & Mather, 1996) .

High Moderate Low

Input Points
Also called mass points for DEMs Input points vary in terms of
number of points
high density, low density

location of points
random, systematic, stratified

accuracy of points and the support

They are the basis for the model creation

Input Points - the points from which interpolation is done

Number of Control Points

Location of Control Points

Spatial Sampling Options

systematic - grid

systematic - profile

random

stratified random

Types of Interpolation
Results are not correct or incorrect so much as they are plausible or absurd.
Mark Monmonnier

Thiessen Polygon Moving averages Splines Optimal interpolation (kriging)

Thiessen Polygons - Overview

Input is irregularly spaced control points Assigns a value to a set of polygons, one polygon for each point The size and shape of the polygons divides the study area in such a way that the area within each polygon is closer to the polygons control point than to any other control point.

Thiessen Polygon example

Thiessen Polygons

Polygons with straight sides that surround one of a set of points in such a way that all of the area within the polygon is closer to the enclosed point than to any other point in the set. They supply a way in which you can estimate the amount of something that occured at any point, based on the values provided by a set of input points measured at discrete locations.

Creation of Thiessen Polygons

This set of seven points shows the location of a set of input points used to measure rainfall.

Imagine that each of the input points is connected to its nearest neighbors. Then, a perpendicular line is drawn at the midpoint of each of the connecting lines

Extend the midpoint lines until they meet, thus forming the Thiessen polygons. Any place within each polygon can be assumed to have the same value as the point inside the polygon.

Inverse Distance Weighted Interpolation

An commonly available example of a weighted moving average. Control points may have regular or irregular spacing Goal is to estimate a set of unknown Z values based on the values of the known control points. Next is an example of the required calculations for one Z value.

Inverse Distance Weighted Interpolation Example

The general formula Z = point to estimate z = known points d = distance from Z to n nearest zs 100 z1 120 z2

Z=

i =1 i =1 n

zi 1

d ia d ia

Distance, d, is calculated as straight line distance from each z to Z a2 + b2 = c2 E.g. from Z to z1 d1 = 4 + 4, d2 = 8

4 130 10 13

Z
110 z3

Calculate the numerator i 1 2 3 z 100 120 110 d2 8 8 2 15 55 z/d2 12.5

zd

= 95.5

Calculate the denominator 1/d2 = 1/8 +1/8 + 1/2 + 1/10 = .85

130 z4

Z = 95.5/.85 = 112

Splines
Characteristics
Simulate a flexible ruler as used by draftsmen of old. Break points allow local changes to be made without affecting the whole. Used to smooth digitized contour lines for better graphic depiction. Thin plate splines are used to create DEMs

Splines - Good and Bad

Positives
Handle large amounts of data efficiently Retain local features Aesthetically pleasing

Negatives
Too smooth Artifacts/ very high or low values No direct estimate of error

Optimal Interpolation - Kriging

Characteristics
recognizes that a single smooth mathematical equation will not suffice to depict natural variation three parts
drift or structure of general trend small variations, random but related (spatially autocorrelated) noise - not autocorrelated and not related to underlying structure

Kriging - Good & Bad

Positive
good where relatively few, expensive control points must be used for interpolation, e.g. ore samples accounts for number and location of control points provides an estimate of potential error in output

Negative
high computational requirements too much noise undermines accuracy

Variography
Method used for modeling the spatial structure of the input data The variogram is central to this method it graphs the differences (semi-variance) among input point values across different distances and directions The shape of the variogram provides information about the nature of the spatial autocorrelation Modeling may be performed with assumption of isotropy (differences same in all directions) or anisotropy (directional trend in differences)

semi-variance measure of the degree of spatial dependence between samples; squared diff of points at distance h sill maximum variance, values not autocorrelated after this point range distance (lag) at which sill is reached nugget noise or intrinsic error

spatial lag examples

Semivariogram of distances between samples (Nicholson & Mather, 1996)

Semivariance

4 3 2 1

10000 20000 30000 40000 50000

Distance (meters)

Types of kriging
Ordinary estimated mean, AKA punctual kriging. Most commonly used type, overall Simple known mean Universal polynomial regression with x, y as independent variables, used when trend is present Indicator, probability, disjunctive non-linear forms, check for values above a particular value Co-kriging involves multiple variables

Hypothetical Surface This is reality. 100 randomly located sample points hold Z values for those places

Data Distribution
True distribution of Z value

Distribution of 100 point sample

Distribution of 285 point sample

Trend analysis
N-S trend blue; E-W trend green. 2nd order polynomial

Global

More focused

Variography
Range: 8800 m distance where autocorrelation ends Sill: 41.4 m squared difference at 8800 m Before trend removal Center is lowest lag distance. Blue/green = similarity; Orange/red = dissimilarity After trend removal

Surface from 100 random points, default parameters Mean=0.01916; RMS= 11.32; RMS Stnd=0.9216 Surface from 285 random points, default parameters Mean=0.010462; RMS= 9.159; RMS Stnd=0.7312 Surface from 285 random points, trend removed Mean=-0.00826; RMS= 7.491; RMS Stnd=1.405

Goal Good model Prediction Error Ideals

Mean error = 0 RMS and average standard error are small RMS standardized error = 1

Surface from 100 random points, default parameters

Surface from 285 random points, trend removed

Surface from 285 random points, default parameters

Using additional input points and removing trends improved the model, i.e. reduced prediction error

Prediction standard error is lower closer to original input points. Measures how well the surface matches the model.

Predicted Actual values

Error measures how well the surface matches a set of independent values.