On thinning a spatial point process into a Poisson process using the Papangelou intensity

Frederic P. Schoenberg

Under Review 2009, SCEC Contribution #1285

Random thinning has been shown to produce useful diagnostics for assessing the goodness-of-fit of a temporal or space-time point process model. The method, which involves keeping or deleting each point individually with a probability inversely proportional to the conditional intensity at that point, does not extend immediately to the case of a purely spatial point process defined by its Papangelou intensity, however. Here, a method for thinning a spatial point process into a Poisson process is introduced. The technique involves considering each possible subset of points, and keeping or deleting the subset with the appropriate probability. A demonstration on a simulated clustered spatial point process is considered, and practical implications and shortcomings are discussed.

Citation
Schoenberg, F. P. (2009). On thinning a spatial point process into a Poisson process using the Papangelou intensity. Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference, (under review).