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Title: Empirical Bayes regionalization methods for spatial stochastic processes

Journal Article · · Water Resources Research; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/90WR01879· OSTI ID:5945814
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Gradient Corp., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
  3. Ambiotec, Harlingen, TX (United States)

Many geophysical properties can be described as spatial stochastic processes, including spatially correlated hydraulic conductivity fields. Use of regional data can potentially improve estimation of such processes. The authors consider the case in which observations at each of several sites are described by a general linear model, while the parameters of these models arise from a common regional distribution. Parametric empirical Bayes methods enable the determination of the parameters of the regional distribution via maximum likelihood. However, such methods have not been utilized for spatial stochastic processes. They develop the application of a simple iterative technique for maximum likelihood estimation of the regional parameters, and demonstrate its use with a common parameterization of the spatial covariance structure. Synthetic data tests show the potential for substantial reduction in estimation risk through use of such techniques.

OSTI ID:
5945814
Journal Information:
Water Resources Research; (United States), Vol. 27:1; ISSN 0043-1397
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English