This text fulfills a need for an advanced-level work covering both the theory and application of geostatistics. It covers the most important areas of geostatistical methodology, introducing tools for description, quantitative modeling of spatial continuity, spatial prediction, and assessment of local uncertainty and stochastic simulation. It also details the theoretical background underlying most GSLIB programs. The tools are applied to an environmental data set, but the book includes a general presentation of algorithms intended for students and practitioners in such diverse fields as soil science, mining, petroleum, remote sensing, hydrogeology, and the environmental sciences.

The aim of this book is to bring together a series of contributions from experts in the field to cover the major aspects of the application of geostatistics in precision agriculture. The focus will not be on theory, although there is a need for some theory to set the methods in their appropriate context. The subject areas identified and the authors selected have applied the methods in a precision agriculture framework. The papers will reflect the wide range of methods available and how they can be applied practically in the context of precision agriculture. This book is likely to have more impact as it becomes increasingly possible to obtain data cheaply and more farmers use onboard digital maps of soil and crops to manage their land. It might also stimulate more software development for geostatistics in PA.

This is an extensive revision of a book that I wrote over ten years ago. My purpose then has remained unchanged: to introduce the concepts and methods of spatial statistics to geologists and engineers working with oil and gas data. I believe I have accomplished more than that; just as I learned the basics of variography and kriging from books for mining engineers, this book could be used by scientists from many fields to learn the basics of the subject. I have tried to adopt an introductory and practical approach to the subject, knowing that books that detail the theory are available. What I say and write comes from my own experience. As a geologist working in the public sector, I have had the privilege of using geostatistics in funded research, in answering service requests from industry, and in short courses. I have taught geostatistics in the university classroom, and advised graduate students in theses and dissertations. I have attempted to anticipate the needs and questions of the enquiring scientist because I was there myself, and know the kind of questions and concerns I had at the time I was trying to learn the subject.

This book will be useful both to those new to spatial uncertainty assessment and to experienced practitioners.