Kriging is one of the most often used prediction methods in spatial data analysis. This paper examines which steps of the underlying algorithms can be performed in parallel on a PVM cluster. It will be shown, that some properties of the so called kriging equations can be used to improve the parallelized version of the algorithm. The implementation is based on R and PVM. An example will show the...

Road transport is a ubiquitous source of lead contamination in the soil near highways with direct and indirect impacts on human health. Accumulation of traffic-induced lead in the soils depends on gasoline lead content, traffic volume, as well as meteorological conditions. To evaluate the effect of traffic on soil lead concentration, 113 samples from the topsoil (0-15 cm) were collected in a re...

Cation exchange capacity (CEC) is one of the most important soil attributes which control some basic properties of soil such as acidity, water and nutrient retaining capacity. However, the measurement of cation exchange capacity in large areas is time consuming and requires high expenses. One way to save time and expenses is to use simple soil covariates and geostatistical methods in mapping CE...

This paper discusses the opportunity of using Machine Learning techniques in an automatic environmental mapping context, as was the case for the SIC2004 exercise. First, the Machine Learning methodology is quickly described and compared to Geostatistics. From there, some clues about when to apply Machine Learning are proposed, and what outcomes can be expected from this choice. Finally, three w...