How inverse distance weighted interpolation works Page 1 of 5

How inverse distance weighted interpolation works

ArcGIS 10.3

Locate topic

Inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation explicitly implements the assumption that things
that are close to one another are more alike than those that are farther apart. To predict a value
for any unmeasured location, IDW uses the measured values surrounding the prediction location.
The measured values closest to the prediction location have more influence on the predicted value
than those farther away. IDW assumes that each measured point has a local influence that
diminishes with distance. It gives greater weights to points closest to the prediction location, and
the weights diminish as a function of distance, hence the name inverse distance weighted.
Weights assigned to data points are illustrated in the following example:

The Weights window contains the list of weights assigned to each data point that is used to
generate a predicted value at the location marked by the crosshair.
Learn more about the interpolation techniques available in ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst

The Power function

As mentioned above, weights are proportional to the inverse of the distance (between the data
point and the prediction location) raised to the power value p. As a result, as the distance

ms-its:c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.3\Help\geostatisticalanalyst.chm::/003100... 11/16/2017

How inverse distance weighted interpolation works Page 2 of 5

increases, the weights decrease rapidly. The rate at which the weights decrease is dependent
on the value of p. If p = 0, there is no decrease with distance, and because each weight λi is
the same, the prediction will be the mean of all the data values in the search neighborhood. As
p increases, the weights for distant points decrease rapidly. If the p value is very high, only the
immediate surrounding points will influence the prediction.

Geostatistical Analyst uses power values greater or equal to 1. When p = 2, the method is
known as the inverse distance squared weighted interpolation. P = 2 is used as a default value,
although there is no theoretical justification to prefer this value over others, and the effect of
changing p should be investigated by previewing the output and examining the cross-validation
statistics.
An optimal power value can be determined by minimizing the root mean square prediction
error (RMSPE). The RMSPE is a statistic that is calculated during cross-validation. RMSPE
quantifies the error of the prediction surface. Geostatistical Analyst will evaluate several
different power values to identify the one that produces the lowest RMSPE. The diagram below
illustrates how Geostatistical Analyst calculates the optimal power. The RMSPE is plotted for
several different power values (using the same dataset). A curve is fit to the points (a
quadratic local polynomial interpolation), and from the curve, the power that provides the
smallest RMSPE is determined as the optimal power.

The search neighborhood

Because things that are close to one another are more alike than those that are farther away,

ms-its:c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.3\Help\geostatisticalanalyst.chm::/003100... 11/16/2017

How inverse distance weighted interpolation works Page 3 of 5

as the locations get farther away, the measured values will have little relationship to the value
of the prediction location. To speed calculations, you can exclude the more distant points that
will have little influence on the prediction. As a result, it is common practice to limit the
number of measured values by specifying a search neighborhood. The shape of the
neighborhood restricts how far and where to look for the measured values to be used in the
prediction. Other neighborhood parameters restrict the locations that will be used within that
shape. In the following image, five measured points (neighbors) will be used when predicting a
value for the location without a measurement, the yellow point.

The shape of the neighborhood is influenced by the input data and the surface you are trying to
create. If there are no directional influences in your data, you'll want to consider points equally
in all directions. To do so, you will define the search neighborhood as a circle. However, if there
is a directional influence in your data, such as a prevailing wind, you may want to adjust for it
by changing the shape of the search neighborhood to an ellipse with the major axis parallel
with the wind. The adjustment for this directional influence is justified because you know that
locations upwind from a prediction location are going to be more similar at remote distances
than locations that are perpendicular to the wind but located closer to the prediction location.
Once a neighborhood shape has been specified, you can restrict which data locations within the
shape should be used. You can define the maximum and minimum number of locations to use,
and you can divide the neighborhood into sectors. If you divide the neighborhood into sectors,
the maximum and minimum constraints will be applied to each sector. There are several
different sectors that can be used and are displayed below.

ms-its:c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.3\Help\geostatisticalanalyst.chm::/003100... 11/16/2017

How inverse distance weighted interpolation works Page 4 of 5

The points highlighted in the data view show the locations and the weights that will be used for
predicting a location at the center of the ellipse (the location of the crosshair). The search
neighborhood is limited to the interior of the ellipse. In the example shown below, one point
(red) in the southern sector and two points (red) in the western sector will be given weights of
more than 10 percent. In the southern sector, one point (brown) will be given a weight
between 5 percent and 10 percent. The rest of the points in the search neighborhood will
receive lower weights.

When to use IDW

A surface calculated using IDW depends on the selection of the power value (p) and the search
neighborhood strategy. IDW is an exact interpolator, where the maximum and minimum values

ms-its:c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.3\Help\geostatisticalanalyst.chm::/003100... 11/16/2017

How inverse distance weighted interpolation works Page 5 of 5

(see diagram above) in the interpolated surface can only occur at sample points. The output
surface is sensitive to clustering and the presence of outliers. IDW assumes that the
phenomenon being modeled is driven by local variation, which can be captured (modeled) by
defining an adequate search neighborhood. Since IDW does not provide prediction standard
errors, justifying the use of this model may be problematic.

Copyright © 1995-2014 Esri. All rights reserved.

ms-its:c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.3\Help\geostatisticalanalyst.chm::/003100... 11/16/2017