[R] Zero distance error in corSpatial - correlation structure using lme

[Kingsford Jones]

I believe you are stuck with what the error says -- i.e. you 'Cannot
have zero distances in "corSpatial"'.

If you recorded locations for observations within transects then you
should be able to model the spatial autocorrelation, either within
transects or across the study area (although the latter may be
difficualt, depending on the spatial layout of your study).  I don't
know of a regression tool in R that allows for estimation of the
spatial correlation strructure at levels higher than than the
observations.

Kingsford Jones

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 7:28 AM, John Poulsen <jpoulsen at zoo.ufl.edu> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am having a problem specifying the correlation structure in lme which
> leads to the error: Error in getCovariate.corSpatial(object, data = data) :
> Cannot have zero distances in "corSpatial".  I have specified a grouping
> variable which is the only fix I could find by searching this error on
> R-help.
>
> ISee the below example.  When my samples (tran) - which are transects
> sampled several times - have different coordinates (STX1 and STY1),
> everything seems to work fine.  But in my actual data set, there are
> multiple observations per sample and the coordinates are the same for the
> same sample.  This is demonstrated below using the coordinates STX2 and
> STY2, which are the same for a single transect.  How can I properly specify
> this structure in Variogram() and corSpatial()?
>
> library(nlme)
>
> set.seed(1001)
> ntrans <- 30
> npertrans <- 5
> ntot <- ntrans*npertrans
> STX1<-runif(ntot, min=16.0921, max=16.4823)
> STY1<-runif(ntot, min=1.9812, max=2.3932)
> STX2<-rep(runif(ntrans, min=16.0921, max=16.4823), each=npertrans)
> STY2<-rep(runif(ntrans, min=1.9812, max=2.3932), each=npertrans)
> site<-rep(c(1,2,3), each=ntot/3)
> tran<-rep(1:ntrans,each=npertrans)
> log<-rep(rbinom(n=ntrans, 1, 0.5), each=npertrans)
> yabund<-rnorm(ntot, 5, 0.4)
> dat<-data.frame(STX1, STY1, STX2, STY2, site, tran, log, yabund)
>
> test1<-lme(yabund~factor(log)+STX1+STY1, random=~1|tran,data=dat)
> test2<-lme(yabund~factor(log)+STX2+STY2, random=~1|tran,data=dat)
>
> Variogram(test1, form=~STX1+STY1|tran)
> plot(Variogram(test1, form=~STX1+STY1|tran))
>
> Variogram(test2, form=~STX2+STY2|tran)   # Varigoram has distance of 0!
> plot(Variogram(test2, form=~STX2+STY2|tran))
>
>
> mod1<-lme(log(yabund)~factor(log)+STX1+STY1, random=~1|tran, data=dat,
>              corr=corSpatial(form=~STY1+STX1|tran, type="exponential",
> nugget=T), method="REML")
>
> mod2<-lme(log(yabund)~factor(log)+STX2+STY2, random=~1|tran, data=dat,
>              corr=corSpatial(form=~STY2+STX2, type="exponential", nugget=T),
> method="REML")
>
> # Error in getCovariate.corSpatial(object, data = data) :
> # Cannot have zero distances in "corSpatial"
>
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