Spatial gradients

Bayesian inference on spatial gradients and detecting zones of rapid change.

Overview

Stochastic process models are widely employed for analyzing spatiotemporal datasets in various scientific disciplines including, but not limited to, environmental monitoring, ecological systems, forestry, hydrology, meteorology, and public health. After inferring on a spatiotemporal process for a given dataset, inferential interest may turn to estimating rates of change, or gradients, over space and time. Dr. Banerjee has developed fully model-based inference on spatiotemporal gradients under continuous space, continuous time settings. Dr. Banerjee’s contribution has been to offer, within a flexible spatiotemporal process model setting, a framework to estimate arbitrary directional gradients over space at any given time-point, temporal derivatives at any given spatial location and, finally, mixed spatiotemporal gradients that reflect rapid change in spatial gradients over time and vice-versa.