Geostatistics

Geostatistics is the branch of statistics focused on spatial or spatiotemporal data, estimating unknown values across geography from a limited set of known measurements. Georges Matheron (1930-2000, French mathematician and mining engineer) formalized geostatistics in the 1960s at the Paris School of Mines, building on the earlier work of Danie Krige (1919-2013, South African mining engineer), whose interpolation method gave rise to the term kriging.