FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MINING AND WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING

GEOSTACTICS ASSIGNMENT #1

LECTURER: MR. MUKIIBI IVAN

PREPARED BY: KAWEESA MOSES

REGISTRATION NO: BU/UG/2015/34

Variogram
A variogram is a description of the spatial continuity of the data. In spatial statistics the
theoretical variogram is a function describing the degree of spatial dependence of a spatial
random field or stochastic process .The variogram is defined as the variance of the difference
between field values at two locations across realizations of the fields

In the case of a concrete example from the field of gold mining, a variogram will give a measure
of how much two samples taken from the mining area will vary in gold percentage depending on
the distance between those samples. Samples taken far apart will vary more than samples taken
close to each other. It is a measure of variability, it increases as samples become more dissimilar.

In the case of a Semi-Variogram, closer things have less variability and are similar. While
things farther away are less predictable and are less related. For example, the terrain one meter
ahead of you is more likely to be similar than 100 meters away.

A Variogram is used to display the variability between data points as a function of distance. An
example of an idealized variogram is shown below.
The distances between pairs at which the variogram is calculated are called lags. For instance,
lags may be calculated for samples that are 10 feet apart, then samples that are 20 feet apart, then
30 feet, etc. In this case the distance between lags is 10 feet. Since points may not be spaced
exactly 10 or 20 feet apart, the lag settings include a lag tolerance value that is typically set to
half of the distance between lags. For the previous example, that would mean that the first lag
would include all pairs of points that are between 5 and 15 feet from each other.

Variogram Parameters

Variogram type:

Select the type of empirical variogram to calculate. The default and recommended first choice is
Semi variogram. Other types can be better for skewed distributions or with the presence of
extreme values. For example, the Semi variogram of logarithms uses logarithmic transform of
the data, and therefore can be useful for log-normally distributed data. The Semi variogram of
normal scores uses a normal score transform of the data which can also be helpful for highly
skewed data.
Lag Settings:

Number of lags: Specifies how many lags of the variogram to calculate. This, together with the
distance between lags, determines the maximum distance between pairs of points at which the
variogram is calculated. This maximum distance is called the variogram coverage (number of
lags times the distance between lags) and is displayed on the dialog. The variogram coverage
should be less than the site size, and a good guideline is for the variogram coverage to be closer
to ½ - ¾ of the site size.

Distance between lags: The intervals to calculate lags. A good distance between lags should be
no smaller than the shortest distance between data points and should be close to the average
spacing of samples. The ideal lag spacing includes roughly the same number of pairs in each lag,
and at least 30 pairs for each lag.

Lag tolerance: How much the distance between pairs can differ from the exact lag distance and
still be included in the lag calculations. The default is ½ of the distance between lags, which
ensures that all possible pairs are included.

Range, Sill and Nugget in Semi-Variograms Or Variograms

At sample points with close distances, the difference in values between points tend to be small.
In other words, the semi-variance is small.

But when sample point distances are farther away, they are less likely to be similar. This means
that the semi-variance becomes large.

As distance increases away from sample points, there is no longer a relationship between the
sample points. Their variance begins to flatten out, and sample values are not related to one
another.
SILL: The value at which the model first flattens out.

RANGE: The distance at which the model first flattens out.

NUGGET: The value at which the semi-variogram (almost) intercepts the y-value.

When you have two sample points at the same location, it is expected to have the same value so
the nugget should be zero. Sometimes they don’t and this adds randomness. But before the graph
starts leveling, these values are spatially auto correlated.

As expected, when distance increases, the semi variance increases. There are less pairs of points
separated by far distances, hence the less correlation between sample points.

But as indicated in the semi-variogram with the sill and range, it begins to reach its flat,
asymptotic level. This is when you try to fit a function to model this behavior.

Fitting a variogram model

Because the kriging algorithm requires a positive definite model of spatial variability, the
experimental variogram cannot be used directly. Instead, a model must be fitted to the data to
approximately describe the spatial continuity of the data. Certain models (i.e., mathematical
functions) that are known to be positive definite are used in the modeling step.

The figure above shows an experimental variogram with a variogram model fitted to it. Each red
square is a lag of the experimental variogram. The x-axis represents the distance between pairs of
points, and the y-axis represents the calculated value of the variogram, where a greater value
indicates less correlation between pairs of points. This particular variogram shows a spatial
relationship well suited for geostatistical analysis since pairs of points are more correlated the
closer they are together and become less correlated the greater the distance between points.
Below are some of the variogram models

1 Linear Models

A linear model means that spatial variability increases linearly with distance. It’s the simplest
type of model without a plateau, meaning that the user has to arbitrarily select the sill and range.

2 Spherical Models

The spherical model is one of the most common models we use in variogram modelling. It is a
modified quadratic equation where spatial dependence flattens out as the sill and range.

3 Exponential Models

The exponential model resembles the spherical model in that spatial variability reaches the sill
gradually. The relationship between two sample points decay gradually, while at a distance of
infinite spatial dependence dissipates.
4 Gaussian Models

The Gaussian function uses a normal probability distribution curve. This type of model is useful
where phenomena are similar at short distances because of its progressive rise up the y-axis.

5 Circular Models

This type of prediction model uses a circular function to fit spatial variability in a semi-
variogram. It resembles the spherical model function where spatial dependence fades away at its
asymptotic level.

Importance of variograms to Geostatics

The variogram is the key function in geostatistics as it will be used to fit a model of the temporal/spatial
correlation of the observed phenomenon. One is thus making a distinction between the experimental
variogram that is a visualization of a possible spatial/temporal correlation and the variogram model that
is further used to define the weights of the kriging function. Note that the experimental variogram is an
empirical estimate of the covariance of a Gaussian process. As such, it may not be positive definite and
hence not directly usable in kriging, without constraints or further processing. This explains why only a
limited number of variogram models are used: most commonly, the linear, the spherical, the Gaussian
and the exponential models.

When a variogram is used to describe the correlation of different variables it is called cross-variogram.
Cross-variograms are used in co-kriging. Should the variable be binary or represent classes of values, one
is then talking about indicator variograms. Indicator variogram is used in indicator kriging.
References

wikipedia.org/wiki/Variogram

gisgeography.com/semi-variogram

Cameron, K, and P Hunter. 2002. Using Spatial Models and Kriging Techniques to Optimize
Long-Term Ground-Water Monitoring Networks: A Case Study. Environmetrics 13:629-59.

Deutsch, C.V. and A.G. Journel. 1998. GSLIB Geostatistical Software Library and User's Guide,
2nd Edition, Applied Geostatistics Series, Oxford University Press, Inc. New York, NY.

Gilbert, RO. 1987. Statistical Methods for Environmental Pollution Monitoring. Van Nostrand
Reinhold, New York.

Isaaks, EH, and RM Srivastava. 1989. An Introduction to Applied Geostatistics. Oxford

University Press, New York.

Webster, R, and MA Oliver. 1993. How Large a Sample Is Needed to Estimate the Regional
Variogram Adequately. Geostatistics Troia '92, ed. A Soares, Vol 1, pp. 155-66. Kluwer
Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.