Statistical Inference For Spatial Processes

The study of spatial processes and their applications is an important topic in statistics and finds wide application particularly in computer vision and image processing. This book is devoted to statistical inference in spatial statistics and is intended for specialists needing an introduction to the subject and to its applications. One of the themes of the book is the demonstration of how these techniques give new insights into classical procedures (including new examples in likelihood theory) and newer statistical paradigms such as Monte-Carlo inference and pseudo-likelihood. Professor Ripley also stresses the importance of edge effects and of lack of a unique asymptotic setting in spatial problems. Throughout, the author discusses the foundational issues posed and the difficulties, both computational and philosophical, which arise. The final chapters consider image restoration and segmentation methods and the averaging and summarising of images. Thus, the book will find wide appeal to researchers in computer vision, image processing, and those applying microscopy in biology, geology and materials science, as well as to statisticians interested in the foundations of their discipline.

Spatial point processes play a fundamental role in spatial statistics and today they are an active area of research with many new applications. Although other published works address different aspects of spatial point processes, most of the classical literature deals only with nonparametric methods, and a thorough treatment of the theory and applications of simulation-based inference is difficult to find. Written by researchers at the top of the field, this book collects and unifies recent theoretical advances and examples of applications. The authors examine Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms and explore one of the most important recent developments in MCMC: perfect simulation procedures.

This work is devoted to several problems of parametric (mainly) and nonparametric estimation through the observation of Poisson processes defined on general spaces. Poisson processes are quite popular in applied research and therefore they attract the attention of many statisticians. There are a lot of good books on point processes and many of them contain chapters devoted to statistical inference for general and partic ular models of processes. There are even chapters on statistical estimation problems for inhomogeneous Poisson processes in asymptotic statements. Nevertheless it seems that the asymptotic theory of estimation for nonlinear models of Poisson processes needs some development. Here nonlinear means the models of inhomogeneous Pois son processes with intensity function nonlinearly depending on unknown parameters. In such situations the estimators usually cannot be written in exact form and are given as solutions of some equations. However the models can be quite fruitful in en gineering problems and the existing computing algorithms are sufficiently powerful to calculate these estimators. Therefore the properties of estimators can be interesting too.

This volume contains presentations by eminent researchers: Statistical Inference for Spatial Processes; Image Analysis; Applications of Spatial Statistics in Earth, Environmental, and Health Sciences; and Statistics of Brain Mapping. They range from asymptotic considerations for spatial processes to practical considerations related to particular applications including important methodological aspects. Many contributions concern image analysis, mainly images related to brain mapping.

Maintaining the excellent features that made the first edition so popular, this outstanding reference/text presents the only comprehensive treatment of the theory of point processes and statistical inference for point processes-highlighting both pointprocesses on the real line and sp;,.tial point processes. Thoroughly updated and revised to reflect changes since publication of the firstedition, the expanded Second EdiLion now contains a better organized and easierto-understand treatment of stationary point processes ... expanded treatment ofthe multiplicative intensity model ... expanded treatment of survival analysis . ..broadened consideration of applications ... an expanded and extended bibliographywith over 1,000 references ... and more than 3('() end-of-chapter exercises.

Theory of Spatial Statistics: A Concise Introduction presents the most important models used in spatial statistics, including random fields and point processes, from a rigorous mathematical point of view and shows how to carry out statistical inference. It contains full proofs, real-life examples and theoretical exercises. Solutions to the latter are available in an appendix. Assuming maturity in probability and statistics, these concise lecture notes are self-contained and cover enough material for a semester course. They may also serve as a reference book for researchers. Features * Presents the mathematical foundations of spatial statistics. * Contains worked examples from mining, disease mapping, forestry, soil and environmental science, and criminology. * Gives pointers to the literature to facilitate further study. * Provides example code in R to encourage the student to experiment. * Offers exercises and their solutions to test and deepen understanding. The book is suitable for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in mathematics and statistics.