A New Method for Handling the Nugget Effect in Kriging

Abstract

This chapter discusses the semivariogram parameter called the nugget effect. Commonly used exact and filtered kriging methods are compared with a new method, which predicts a new value at the sampled location. Using this new method, prediction at a location where data have been collected involves predicting the smooth underlying value plus a new observation from the measurement error process. This is exactly what is necessary for validation and cross-validation diagnostic. Example of the decision-making using new value kriging is presented using radiocesium soil contamination data, collected in Belarus after the Chernobyl accident.