• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Surprising optimal estimators for the area fraction
  • Contributor: Schladitz, Katja
  • Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP), 1999
  • Published in: Advances in Applied Probability, 31 (1999) 4, Seite 995-1001
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1017/s0001867800009575
  • ISSN: 1475-6064; 0001-8678
  • Keywords: Applied Mathematics ; Statistics and Probability
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: For a random closed set X and a compact observation windowW the mean coverage fraction of W can be estimated by measuring the area of W covered by X. Jensen and Gundersen, and Baddeley and Cruz-Orive described cases where a point counting estimator is more efficient than area measurement. We give two other examples, where at first glance unnatural estimators are not only better than the area measurement but by Grenander's Theorem have minimal variance. Whittle's Theorem is used to show that the point counting estimator in the original Jensen-Gundersen paradox is optimal for large randomly translated discs.