When statistical inference is used for spatial prediction, the model-based framework known as kriging is commonly used. The predictor for an unsampled element of a population is a weighted combination of sampled values, in which weights are obtained by estimating the spatial covariance function....

We establish a mathematical framework that formally validates the two-phase “superpopulation viewpoint” proposed by Hartley and Sielken (1975), by defining a product probability space which includes both the design space and the model space. We develop a general methodology that combines...