The part about geostatistical data

• Geostatistical data: observations $Z(s_1), ..., Z(s_n)$ of a spatially continuous variable $Z$ collected at specific locations $s_1, ..., s_n$.
• Geostatistical data ~ a partial realization of a random process $Z(\cdot)$
• Examples:
  • air pollution
  • temperature levels taken at a set of monitoring stations
• The aims are often to:
  • infer the characteristics of the spatial process (mean, variability, …)
  • use this information to predict the process at unsampled locations