Sampling methods in environmental spatial analysys and their effects on spatial continuity display

Spatial structure analysis in describing the spatial continuity of regionalized variables is a fundamental component in spatial analysis. Effects of different sampling design parameters on the quality of estimates from spatially correlated data have been extensively investigated, while efficiency of sampling designs for displaying and describing spatial continuity, particularly in environmental research, has been given less attention. In this paper, the performances of several sampling designs were examined and their different effects on simulated data were compared. Sample variogram is used to describe spatial structure. Based mainly on visual comparison, results showed that both sample size and sample pattern are of significant influence on the sample variograms, therefore, each plays important role on practical sampling.