The quick definition: Spatial statistics is a rapidly developing field that involves the quantitative analysis of spatial data and the statistical modeling of spatial variability and uncertainty.

It is having an impact on all of our lives, whether we know it or not. Applications of spatial statistics are important to studies in a broad range of disciplines. It is especially critical to work being carried out on environmental, medical and socio-economic issues. More and more, researchers in these diverse fields rely on spatial statistics to advance their work.

This conference gives researchers from across the globe a chance to highlight these advances and Ohio State is a natural place to hold it.

"Ohio State has a reputation for being a hub of research activity in the field of spatial statistics,” Kate Calder, associate professor, statistics, and a conference organizer, said.

“It is exciting that we were selected to host this international conference," she said; "and it's an honor to welcome distinguished researchers from across the world to our campus to discuss advancements in both spatial statistical methodology and its application to a wide variety of disciplines."

“Spatial statistics has long been a focus research area in our department,” said Mark Berliner, a member of the conference scientific advisory board, and professor and chair of Ohio State's Department of Statistics.

“Its applications range from agriculture to medical imaging to environmental monitoring and climate and weather analysis. It is gratifying to see the growth in the area as indicated by the large participation in this meeting.”

Among the presenters during the three-day conference is Ohio State geographic spatial analysis researcher Ola Ahlqvist, professor of geography, whose interests encompass semantic uncertainty and formal ontology in analysis of land cover change, landscape history, and visualization; and how online maps, social media, and games form a nexus for spatial collaboration, social-environmental simulation, and decision making.

"I am presenting work that I have done together with colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh who seek to better understand and prevent substance use by youth. Previous studies have determined that neighborhood quality and parent substance use disorder contribute to youth substance use," Ahlqvist said. "Still, this area of research has not looked so much at the geographic patterns of substance use, so in this preliminary study we are using spatial statistics and geographic information systems to look at a long-term dataset that the group in Pittsburgh has collected. Our results so far indicate that the use of more detailed location information does not suggest any additional spatial factors that would help predict substance use."

This conference is not just a chance to showcase the latest findings of researchers in the field of spatial statistics, but it provides an exceptional learning opportunity for students doing their graduate studies in the field.

Calder’s advisee Mark Risser is attending the conference and is excited about the chances it offers to broaden his horizons.

“I am doing my PhD work in spatial statistics, which involves any type of data that has useful locational information,” he said. “For example, applications are often in climate science (global climate models, climate reconstruction), weather data (measuring and predicting precipitation, temperature, etc.), or modeling the spread of pollution and disease.

“As a young researcher and graduate student, this conference specifically gives me an amazing opportunity to hear from some of the most famous and experienced spatial statisticians in the world, and to do so in my own backyard here at Ohio State.

“The conference includes an all-day workshop in which I will learn to use some practical computational tools for my research, and then of course the seminar-based instruction later in the week. And, of course, I look forward to the opportunity to network with other students, faculty, and researchers in the sub-community of spatial statistics. Plus, I am hoping the event builds some public awareness about the importance of this research specialty.”

Invited Keynote speakers from the University of Cambridge, UK; the University of Montreal, Canada; and the Chinese Academy of Sciences at Beijing, China, set the international tone of the conference.

This is the second time the conference has been held; it was held in Enshede, The Netherlands, in 2011. Primary conference organizer is the publishing company Elsevier.