Introduction to Geostatistics

Lecturer prof. J. Jaime Gómez-Hernández

This short course aims at introducing the basic and theoretical concepts of Geostatistics, its main applications in estimation processes, uncertainty modelling and stochastic simulations.
The course combines theory and practice, with the hands-on analysis of a case study. The attendees will be introduced to the open-source geostatistical package SGeMS (Stanford geostatistical modelling software) that will be used during the practical exercises.
The course is organized in remote video-lessons that the attendant can follow by alone in an accessibility period of three days. Every two/three lessons, tutoring sessions held live on video by the teacher will be carried out. During the tutoring sessions the teacher will provide clarifications to the students and assistance in the practices.
The course is scheduled to run from 10 to 28 May 2021.

Who is it for?

Mainly for PhD students in engineering and earth sciences. The contents are also of interest to postdocs and researchers active in the field of engineering, environmental sciences and water resources.
5 Credits will be recognized to those attending the classes and passing a final exam.

Geostatistics

Geostatistics is a branch of statistics aimed at studying and describing stochastic processes, associated with spatial, temporal or spatiotemporal variability that show autocorrelation. The origin of geostatistics can be ascribed to the practical need of describing spatial patterns and interpolating values on those locations where sample where not available in the mining industry. The discipline has rapidly evolved beyond interpolation into stochastic simulation and uncertainty quantification. Nowadays, applications of geostatistics are common in many engineering, earth and environmental science and health areas such as: mining industry, topographic surveys, environmental science, mapping of soil and groundwater pollution, hydrology, ecology, agriculture, meteorology, public health, epidemiology, etc.

Course detailed Program

The course is organized in remote video-lessons that the attendant can follow by alone in an accessibility period of three days. In the middle day there will be a tutorial session for Questions & Answers that may last up to two hours; the videos will still remain on one more day in case the students need to review them.

The schedule will be as follows:

Part 1

May 10 until May 12
Videos 1 and 2: Introduction and the importance of heterogeneity

May 11 @ 16:30 CEST (GMT+2)
Remote tutorial

Part 2

May 12 until May 14
Videos 3 and P1 and P2: Univariate and bivariate geostatistics plus the two first hands-on classes with SGeMS

May 13 @ 16:30 CEST (GMT+2)
Remote tutorial

Part 3

May 17 until May 19
Videos 4 and 5 and P3: Spatial characterization and the variogram model, plus hands-on variography

May 18 @ 16:30 CEST (GMT+2)
Remote tutorial

Part 4

May 19 until May 21
Videos 6, 7, 8 and 9 plus P4: The random function model and estimation, plus hand-on estimation

May 20 @ 16:30 CEST (GMT+2)
Remote tutorial

Part 5

May 24 until May 26
Videos 10 and 11 and P5: Local uncertainty and simulation plus hands-on simulation

May 25 @ 16:30 CEST (GMT+2)
Remote tutorial

Part 6

May 26 until May 28
Video 12: Multipoint geostatistics

May 27 @ 16:30 CEST (GMT+2)
Remote tutorial and discussion of assignments

Venue

The videos will be made available on http://bit.ly/GeostatCourseParma at the dates and times indicated above. Tutorials will take place on Microsoft Teams at http://bit.ly/GeostatCourseParmaQA.

The course is organized in the framework of the initiative TeachinParma co-funded by the Fondazione Cariparma and the University of Parma (http://www.teachinparma.com/about/). The TeachInParma project aims at increasing the international dimension of the PHD Schools of the University of Parma, inviting high-standing Visiting Professors from abroad to join our College of tutors.

Contact person

Prof. Maria Giovanna Tanda, Department of Architecture and Engineering, University of Parma (Italy).
mariagiovanna.tanda@unipr.it

Registrazione

The number of participants is limited to 25. There is no registration fee for the course, but participants have to register before April 30th, 2021 at the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMYFLg6HiZLGlnORZxAFtH0AcIRcDFb8dS7wJGQMfRfklvdg/viewform?usp=pp_url

Attendee requirements

The course will be held in English. Course attendees are required to have available their own laptop for the practical exercises.

Course Lecturer

Prof. J. Jaime Gómez-Hernández

Professor J. Jaime Gómez-Hernández received his Civil Engineering Degree from Universitat Politècnica de València in 1983, then he continued his studies at Stanford University where he got an MS. Sc. in Applied Hydrogeology in 1988 and a Ph. D. in Geostatistics in 1991. Upon his return to Spain, he joined the faculty of the School of Civil Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de València where he became full professor of Hydrogeology in 2000. Currently, he is the head of the Hydrogeology Group of the Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering.

His research has focused on the fields of geostatistics, upscaling, stochastic simulation, inverse modeling, nuclear waste disposal, uncertainty quantification and stochastic hydrogeology.

His list of publications can be consulted in Google Scholar (user=PBHrWdMAAAAJ), Orcid (0000-0002-0720-2196) or Scopus (7005555097)
He has served as associate editor for the Journal of Hydrology, Hydrogeology Journal, Mathematical Geology and Spatial Statistics, currently belongs to the Editorial Board of Mathematical Geosciences, Advances in Water Resources, and Springer Nature Applied Sciences.

He has served as Secretary of the Hydrology Section of the European Geophysical Society; he has been Vice-rector of the Universitat Politècnica de València in two occasions and he has been Director General for Scientific and Technological Infrastructures for the Valencian Regional Government. Currently, he is President of the Geostatistics for Environmental Applications International Association (geoENVia).

He has organized the 1988 and 2012 Conference on Geostatistcs for Environmental Applications, the 2010 IAHR Groundwater Symposium, the 2016 10th International Congress on Geostatistics, the 2019 Interpore Annual Congress, the 2019 AIH Annual Congress, and the 2019 AGU Chapman Conference on Aquifer sustainability.

He received the Spanish Ministry of Education award to best civil engineer graduate of the class of 1983; he has been recognized as Excellent Reviewer, by the Editorial Boards of Water Resources Research and Advances in Water Resources, and as a Sentinel of Science in Environmental Science by Publons. He received the Centennial Prize to Teaching Assistants by Stanford University, and the Prize for Research in Waste Disposal by the Valencian Government. He is also the 2020 Krumbein Medal from the International Association of Mathematical Geosciences, and the 2021 Distinguished Lecturer of the same association. He received the prestigious Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water for 2020 in the Groundwater category.