Spatial Linear Models

Proliferation of spatially indexed data (i.e., variable measurements are associated with a spatial location) has spurred considerable development in statistical modeling. Key texts in this field include Cressie (1993), Cressie and Wikle (2011), Chiles and Delfiner (1999), Moller and Waagepetersen (2003), Schabenberger and Gotway (2004), Wackernagel (2003), Diggle and Ribeiro (2007), and Banerjee et al. (2014). The statistical literature acknowledges that spatial (and temporal) associations are captured most effectively using models that build dependencies in different stages or hierarchies. As illustrated in Sect. 6.2, hierarchical models are especially advantageous with data sets that have several lurking sources of uncertainty and dependence.