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Geostatistics models spatial dependence for estimation and prediction. A mean or drift describes systematic variation, while a covariogram or semivariogram describes residual dependence. Kriging combines the two for spatial prediction.

Kriging predicts an unobserved value of a spatial random field by combining observations according to their covariances. Nearest-neighbor interpolation uses the closest sample; kriging also asks how strongly each sample is related to the target and how much information the samples share with one another. Two nearby, highly correlated samples need not provide twice the information of one. The different forms of kriging depend on whether the mean is known, an unknown constant, or an unknown regression drift.

Write $Z=(Z(s_1),\dots ,Z(s_n){)}^T$ for the observation random vector, $z$ for its realized values, and $Z_0=Z(s_0)$ for the prediction target. Assume finite second moments, and defineHere $\Sigma$ is the observation covariance matrix, assumed to be a positive-definite matrix in the formulas below. A covariance function supplies its entries and the target covariance vector $c$. For a second-order stationary random field, the covariogram $C(h)$ depends on displacement, and the semivariogram satisfies $\gamma (h)=C(0)-C(h)$. The intrinsically stationary random field formulation permits kriging using a semivariogram even when a stationary covariogram is unavailable; the finite covariance formulation below is a convenient important case.

For a linear combination $w^{T}Z$ predicting $Z_0$ with zero bias, the error variance equals its mean squared error:Ordinary kriging and universal kriging minimize this quadratic form subject to their mean constraints. Their optimality is among the specified linear predictors with zero bias under the chosen statistical model; covariance information alone does not establish optimality among arbitrary nonlinear predictors. The Gaussian random field interpretation supplies additional conclusions in simple kriging.

The reported error variance assumes a chosen covariance function, its statistical parameters, observation locations, and a mean structure. It omits uncertainty in fitted covariance parameters and does not validate the trend. A repeated-sampling mean squared error need not equal the error variance conditional on each realized data vector.^[ref]

In 1963, Georges Matheron presented kriging for estimating average ore grades in mining panels from weighted samples taken inside and outside a panel. This setting in geostatistics explains why prediction targets can be averages over regions as well as values at points.^[ref]

Ordinary kriging assumes $\mathbb{E}[Z(s)]=\mu$ for an unknown constant $\mu$. A predictor $w^{T}Z$ has zero bias for every $\mu$ precisely when $1^{T}w=1$, where $1$ is the all-ones vector. Ordinary kriging minimizes the error variance $Q(w)$ subject to this constraint, giving the best linear unbiased predictor. Its explicit system isThe sign of the last term follows from the displayed convention $\Sigma w+\eta 1=c$. To derive the system, differentiate $Q(w)+2\eta (1^{T}w-1)$. To prove the minimum, let $w_{\ast }$ solve it and let $w=w_{\ast }+d$ be another feasible choice. Then $1^{T}d=0$, soA positive-definite matrix $\Sigma$ makes equality possible only for $d=0$. This argument uses second moments, not a normal distribution assumption. Ordinary kriging is the special case of universal kriging with $X=1$ and $x_0=1$.

For an original one-dimensional teaching example, observe $z=(1,3,2{)}^T$ at $s=(0,1,3)$, and predict at $s_0=2$. Choose unit marginal variance, exact observations without measurement noise, an unknown constant mean, and the exponential covariance functionThe exponential covariance function corresponds to a stationary Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, so it gives a valid covariance model. Its semivariogram is $1-2^{-|h|}$. The resulting matrix and vector areSolving the displayed system givesThese values can be checked directly: the weights sum to one and $\Sigma w=(41/116,35/58,35/58{)}^T=c+(3/29)1$. Substitution into $Q(w)$ gives $18/29$. Nearest-neighbor interpolation must choose between the two equally close samples at one and three, returning either three or two; their error variances under this model are both $1+1-2(1/2)=1$. Thus the benefit is quantified under the chosen model, without knowing the unobserved target value.

The upper panel applies the same ordinary kriging calculation at each target location. The lower panel shows the square root of its error variance, in the units of the observations. It is zero at the exact observation locations and rises between and beyond them. No confidence interval is inferred from a variance alone; a probability distribution assumption is needed to attach a coverage level.

The weights are not required to be positive. Keep the same observations and target, but replace the covariogram by the smoother Gaussian kernel $C(h)=2^{-h^2}$. ThenThe negative coefficient compensates for dependence between samples; the constraint eliminating bias still holds. Kriging is not generally a convex combination, and its prediction need not stay between the observed values. A smaller model-based error variance does not establish that one covariance function is better supported by these three observations.

The universal kriging model has a linear drift in $y$ and a zero-mean Gaussian residual field:The Gau range parameter in this software is $a=1/\varphi$, since its semivariogram uses $1-e^{-(h/a{)}^2}$. The output gives ${\hat{\tau }}^2=0$, ${\hat{\sigma }}^2=0.4726257$, and $\hat{a}=1.112235$, hence $\hat{\varphi }\simeq 0.899091$. The exact Gaussian range is infinite; the 95-percent practical range is approximately $1.92508$ in the coordinate distance units.

The BLUE=TRUE option asks for the best linear unbiased estimator of the drift, rather than the full field kriging prediction. Thus the two printed fitted trends give ${\hat{\beta }}_0=20.13793$ at $y=0$ and ${\hat{\beta }}_0+{\hat{\beta }}_1=22.08399$ at $y=1$. ThereforeThere is no $x$ coefficient in the drift. The reported variances $0.09456496$ and $0.06097459$ are the variances of the corresponding estimated trend values, not full-field prediction variances. They do not determine the slope variance without its covariance with the intercept. The interpolated map can still vary with $x$ through the correlated residual prediction, even though the fitted deterministic drift depends only on $y$.

Simple kriging assumes a known mean function. If $m=(m(s_1),\dots ,m(s_n){)}^T$ and $m_0=m(s_0)$ are known, center the observations, predict the residual, and add back the target mean:For known zero mean, these reduce to $c^T{\Sigma }^{-1}z$ and $v_0-c^T{\Sigma }^{-1}c$. Completing the covariance quadratic form giveswhich proves minimum error variance among predictors of the form $m_0+w^T(Z-m)$. No sum-to-one constraint is needed: the known mean already supplies the offset. In the exponential example from ordinary kriging, imposing known zero mean gives weights $(0,2/5,2/5{)}^T$, prediction $2$, and error variance $3/5$. The smaller error variance uses additional knowledge of the mean; it is not a free improvement when the mean is unknown.

If $(Z_0,Z)$ has a joint multivariate normal distribution, the displayed prediction is exactly $\mathbb{E}[Z_0\mid Z=z]$, and $s_{\mathrm{SK}}^2$ is its conditional variance. A conditional expectation minimizes mean squared error among all square-integrable functions of the observations. Without a joint multivariate normal distribution, simple kriging remains the best predictor in the specified affine class, but the conditional expectation may be nonlinear and its conditional variance may depend on $z$. Thus Gaussian process regression and the second-moment kriging construction agree under these assumptions, while having different starting points.^[ref]