Monte-Carlo simulation (or method)

A statistical method of generating a sampling distribution for a statistic, usually in the absence of a well understood analytically derived method. In spatial analysis it is often difficult to derive expected distributions of statistical measures, so Monte Carlo simulation is often used. Based on an understanding of the processes at work in generating the spatial data under analysis, a computer simulation is used to generate a number of synthetic datasets, which are then analyzed using the measure under test. The results from multiple synthetic datasets provide a synthetic sampling distribution against which observed measurements can be assessed.