UCLA Fielding School of Public Health professor’s new work makes clear the benefits of “big data” in fields ranging from environmental science to real estate

The latest edition of a popular text on statistical science and methods makes clear how the use of “big data” techniques can be used by professionals in disciplines across the scientific and economic spectrum, including in public health.

Hierarchical Modeling and Analysis for Spatial Data, co-authored by Dr. Sudipto Banerjee, professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics, has been published in hardcover and as an e-book by the CRC Press, part of UK-based Taylor & Francis. The work, first published in 2003, has been extensively updated for the new third edition, Banerjee said.

“Over the past decade, spatial statistics has evolved significantly, driven by an explosion in data availability and advances in computation,” said Banerjee, whose co-authors include Dr. Alan Gelfand, the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Statistical Science at Duke University. “This edition reflects those changes, introducing new methods, expanded applications, and enhanced computational resources to support researchers and practitioners across disciplines, including environmental science, ecology, and public health.”

Key features of the third edition include:

• A dedicated chapter on state-of-the-art Bayesian modeling of large spatial and spatio-temporal datasets
• Two new chapters on spatial point pattern analysis, covering both foundational and Bayesian perspectives
• A new chapter on spatial data fusion, integrating diverse spatial data sources from different probabilistic mechanisms
• An accessible introduction to GPS mapping, geodesic distances, and mathematical cartography
• An expanded special topics chapter, including spatial challenges with finite population modeling and spatial directional data
• A thoroughly revised chapter on Bayesian inference, featuring an updated review of modern computational techniques
• A dedicated GitHub repository providing R programs and solutions to selected exercises, ensuring continued access to evolving software developments

Gelfand is the author of more than 330 papers and six books and is internationally known for his contributions to applied statistics, Bayesian computation and Bayesian inference. Banerjee has authored more than 200 research articles, two textbooks, two committee reports for the National Academies, and an edited handbook on spatial epidemiology.