The importance of knowing your data

As mentioned in The geostatistical workflow, there are many stages involved in creating a surface. The first is to fully explore the data and identify important features that will be incorporated in the model. These features must be identified at the beginning of the process because a number of choices have to be made and parameter values have to be specified in each stage of building the model. Note that, in the Geostatistical Wizard, the choices you make determine the options that are available in the following steps of the process, so it is important to identify the main features of the model before starting to build it. While the Geostatistical Wizard provides reliable default values (some of which are calculated specifically for your data), it cannot interpret the context of your study or the objectives you have in creating the model. It is critical that you create and refine the model based on additional insights gained from prior knowledge of the phenomenon and data exploration in order to generate a more accurate surface.

The following topics provide more detail regarding data exploration and information on how to use the findings when building an interpolation model:


7/11/2012