Spatial Linear Models

Abstract

The main goal of spatial modelling is to provide a description of continuous or categorical phenomena observed at locations (i.e. points or surfaces) in space. By far the most common applications have been on the earth’s surface, where each location can be described by a two-dimensional vector of geographical coordinates. One example is the analysis of yield from spatially contiguous plots in an experimental design, when the plots are subject to different treatments the effects of which are to be estimated. Another major example in environmental sciences is the study of pollution data recorded at a number of monitoring stations within the same area.