Kriging is a powerful statistical interpolation method used in spatial data analysis. It predicts unknown values at unsampled locations based on known data points, while also providing uncertainty estimates. The method considers the spatial correlation between data points to make optimal predictions.
Spatial correlation is fundamental to kriging. The method assumes that nearby points are more similar than distant ones. This relationship is captured by the variogram, which shows how variance increases with distance. Key parameters include the sill, range, and nugget effect.