ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the several methods for generating spatial data with the help of computers and random number generators. The Gaussian random field holds a core position in the theory of spatial data analysis much in the same vein as the Gaussian distribution is key to many classical approaches of statistical inferences. The goal is to measure the length of the profile. One could create a continuous profile by kriging and then obtain the length as the sum of the segments between the observed transect locations. The name of the method reveals a metallurgic connection. If a molten metal is cooled slowly, the molecules can move freely, attaining eventually a state of the solid with low energy and little stress. The entire process continues until, for some small temperature, no perturbations lead to configurations with lower energy. The acceptable random perturbations are then a random sampling from the uniform distribution of the set of configurations with minimal energy.
