[SOLVED] Duplicate data when using gstat or automap package in R

Duplicate data when using gstat or automap package in R

I am trying to using ordinary kriging to spatially predict data where an animal will occur based on predictor variables using the gstat or automap package in R. I have many (over 100) duplicate coordinate points, which I cannot throw out since those stations were sampled multiple times over many years. Every time that I run the code below for ordinary kriging, I get an LDL error, which is due to the duplicate points. Does anyone know how to fix this problem without throwing out data? I have tried the code from the automap package that is supposed to correct for duplicates but I can't get that to work. Thank you for the help!

coordinates(fish) <- ~ LONGITUDE+LATITUDE
x.range <- range(fish@coords[,1])
y.range <- range(fish@coords[,2])
grd <- expand.grid(x=seq(from=x.range[1], to=x.range[2], by=3), y=seq(from=y.range[1], to=y.range[2], by=3))
coordinates(grd) <- ~ x+y
plot(grd, pch=16, cex=.5)
gridded(grd) <- TRUE

library(gstat)
zerodist(fish) ###146 duplicate points
v <- variogram(log(WATER_TEMP) ~1, fish, na.rm=TRUE)
plot(v)
vgm()
f <- vgm(1, "Sph", 300, 0.5)
print(f)
v.fit <- fit.variogram(v,f)
plot(v, model=v.fit) ####In fit.variogram(v, d) : Warning: singular model in variogram fit

krg <- krige(log(WATER_TEMP) ~ 1, fish, grd, v.fit) 
## [using ordinary kriging]
##"chfactor.c", line 131: singular matrix in function LDLfactor()Error in predict.gstat(g, newdata = newdata, block = block, nsim = nsim,: LDLfactor

##automap code for correcting for duplicates
fish.dup = rbind(fish, fish[1,]) # Create duplicate
coordinates(fish.dup) = ~LONGITUDE + LATITUDE 
kr = autoKrige(WATER_TEMP, fish.dup, grd)
###Error in inherits(formula, "SpatialPointsDataFrame"):object 'WATER_TEMP' not found
###somehow my predictor variables are no longer available when in a Spatial Points Data Frame??

Solution

automaphas a very simple fix for duplicate observations, and that is to discard them. So, automapdoes not really solves the issue you have. I see some options:

Discard the duplicates.
Slightly perturb the coordinates of the duplicates so that they are not on exactly the same location anymore.
Perform space-time kriging using gstat.

In regard to your specific issue, please make your example reproducible. What I can guess is that rbind of your fish object is not doing what you expect...