It is a simple matter to produce an random number, and by stacking k
random numbers in a column vector, you can obtain a vector with independent standard normal components
. The meaning of the terms independence and randomness in the context of a deterministic algorithm required for the generation of these numbers is subtle; see Knuth (1981, Chapter 3) for details.
Rather than , what is required is the generation of a vector
—that is,
![]() |
with covariance matrix
![]() |
If the covariance matrix is symmetric and positive definite, it has a Cholesky root such that
can be factored as
![]() |
where is lower triangular. See Ralston and Rabinowitz (1978, Chapter 9, Section 3-3) for details. This vector
can be generated by the transformation
. Here is where the assumption of a Gaussian SRF is crucial. When
, then
is also Gaussian. The mean of
is
![]() |
and the variance is
![]() |
Consider now an SRF , with spatial covariance function
. Fix locations
, and let
denote the random vector
![]() |
with corresponding covariance matrix
![]() |
Since this covariance matrix is symmetric and positive definite, it has a Cholesky root, and the , can be simulated as described previously. This is how the SIM2D procedure implements unconditional simulation in the zero-mean
case. More generally,
![]() |
where is a quadratic form in the coordinates
and the
is an SRF that has the same covariance matrix
as previously. In this case, the
, is computed once and added to the simulated vector
, for each realization.
For a conditional simulation, this distribution of
![]() |
must be conditioned on the observed data. The relevant general result concerning conditional distributions of multivariate normal random variables is the following. Let , where
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
The subvector is
,
is
,
is
,
is
, and
is
, with
. The full vector
is partitioned into two subvectors,
and
, and
is similarly partitioned into covariances and cross covariances.
With this notation, the distribution of conditioned on
is
, with
![]() |
and
![]() |
See Searle (1971, pp. 46–47) for details. The correspondence with the conditional spatial simulation problem is as follows. Let the coordinates
of the observed data points be denoted , with values
. Let
denote the random vector
![]() |
The random vector corresponds to
, while
corresponds to
. Then
as in the previous distribution. The matrix
![]() |
is again positive definite, so a Cholesky factorization can be performed.
The dimension n for is simply the number of nonmissing observations for the VAR= variable; the values
are the values of this variable. The coordinates
are also found in the DATA= data set, with the variables that correspond to the x and y coordinates identified in the COORDINATES statement.
Note: All VAR= variables use the same set of conditioning coordinates; this fixes the matrix
for all simulations.
The dimension k for is the number of grid points specified in the GRID statement. Since there is a single GRID statement, this fixes the matrix
for all simulations. Similarly,
is fixed.
The Cholesky factorization is computed once, as is the mean correction
![]() |
The means and
are computed using the grid coordinates
, the data coordinates
, and the quadratic form specification from the MEAN statement. The simulation is now performed exactly as in the unconditional case. A
vector of independent standard
random variables is generated and multiplied by
, and
is added to the transformed vector. This is repeated N times, where N is the value specified for the NR= option.