This book serves well as an introduction into the more theoretical aspects of the use of spline models. It develops a theory and practice for the estimation of functions from noisy data on functionals. The simplest example is the estimation of a smooth curve, given noisy observations on a finite number of its values. Convergence properties, data based smoothing parameter selection, confidence intervals, and numerical methods are established which are appropriate to a number of problems within this framework. Methods for including side conditions and other prior information in solving ill posed inverse problems are provided. Data which involves samples of random variables with Gaussian, Poisson, binomial, and other distributions are treated in a unified optimization context. Experimental design questions, i.e., which functionals should be observed, are studied in a general context. Extensions to distributed parameter system identification problems are made by considering implicitly defined functionals.

A general class of powerful and flexible modeling techniques, spline smoothing has attracted a great deal of research attention in recent years and has been widely used in many application areas, from medicine to economics. Smoothing Splines: Methods and Applications covers basic smoothing spline models, including polynomial, periodic, spherical, t

Subject of multivariate splines presented from an elementary point of view; includes many open problems.

Nonparametric function estimation with stochastic data, otherwise known as smoothing, has been studied by several generations of statisticians. Assisted by the ample computing power in today's servers, desktops, and laptops, smoothing methods have been finding their ways into everyday data analysis by practitioners. While scores of methods have proved successful for univariate smoothing, ones practical in multivariate settings number far less. Smoothing spline ANOVA models are a versatile family of smoothing methods derived through roughness penalties, that are suitable for both univariate and multivariate problems. In this book, the author presents a treatise on penalty smoothing under a unified framework. Methods are developed for (i) regression with Gaussian and non-Gaussian responses as well as with censored lifetime data; (ii) density and conditional density estimation under a variety of sampling schemes; and (iii) hazard rate estimation with censored life time data and covariates. The unifying themes are the general penalized likelihood method and the construction of multivariate models with built-in ANOVA decompositions. Extensive discussions are devoted to model construction, smoothing parameter selection, computation, and asymptotic convergence. Most of the computational and data analytical tools discussed in the book are implemented in R, an open-source platform for statistical computing and graphics. Suites of functions are embodied in the R package gss, and are illustrated throughout the book using simulated and real data examples. This monograph will be useful as a reference work for researchers in theoretical and applied statistics as well as for those in other related disciplines. It can also be used as a text for graduate level courses on the subject. Most of the materials are accessible to a second year graduate student with a good training in calculus and linear algebra and working knowledge in basic statistical inferences such as linear models and maximum likelihood estimates.

Splines provide a significant tool for the design of computationally economical curves and surfaces for the construction of various objects like automobiles, ship hulls, airplane fuselages and wings, propeller blades, shoe insoles, bottles, etc. It also contributes in the description of geological, physical, statistical, and even medical phenomena. Spline methods have proven to be indispensable in a variety of modern industries, including computer vision, robotics, signal and image processing, visualization, textile, graphic designs, and even media. This book aims to provide a valuable source on splines and their applications. It focuses on collecting and disseminating information in various disciplines including computer-aided geometric design, computer graphics, data visualization, data fitting, power systems, clinical and epidemiologic studies, disease detection, regression curves, social media, and biological studies. The book is useful for researchers, scientists, practitioners, and many others who seek state-of-the-art techniques and applications using splines. It is also useful for undergraduate senior students as well as graduate students in the areas of computer science, engineering, health science, statistics, and mathematics. Each chapter also provides useful information on software developments and their extensions.

A very substantial number of results were obtained during this contract in the area of multivariate model building and model identification. A list of publications in which the Air Force Contract is mentioned appears below. We are continuing this work in the follow on contract, AFOSR 90-0103. The research monograph Spline Models for Observational Data by the PI was published by The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in March 1990 as volume 59 in the prestigious CBMS-NSF Regional Conference Series in Applied Mathematics. Although the actual writing of this monograph was not supported by the AFOSR, a number of research results obtained under AFOSR sponsorship are discussed in it. We have acknowledged in the Foreword the research support of the AFOSR. (kr).

The fitting of a curve or surface through a set of observational data is a very frequent problem in different disciplines (mathematics, engineering, medicine, ...) with many interesting applications. This book describes the algorithms and mathematical fundamentals of a widely used software package for data fitting with (tensor product) splines. As such it gives a survey of possibilities and benefits but also of the problems to cope with when approximating with this popular type of function. In particular it is demonstrated in detail how the properties of B-splines can be fully exploited for improving the computational efficiency and for incorporating different boundary or shape preserving constraints. Special attention is also paid to strategies for an automatic and adaptive knot selection with intent to obtain serious data reductions. The practical use of the smoothing software is illustrated with many examples, academic as well as taken from real life.