Procrustean Statistical Inference of Deformations

A two step method has been devised for the statistical inference of deformation changes. In the first step of this method and based on Procrustes analysis of deformation tensors, the significance of the change in a time or space series of deformation tensors is statistically analyzed. In the second step significant change(s) in deformations are localized. In other words, they are assigned to certain parameters of deformation tensor. This is done using the Global Model Test. Because of the key role of Procrustes analysis in the proposed method for the inference of deformation changes, it has been given the name of Procrustean Statistical Inference of Deformations. The method has been implemented to synthetic and real deformations. The 3D-deformation tensors of a regional GPS network in the Kenai Peninsula, for analyzing the spatial variation of deformation tensors or the change of deformation within the study area, and a local GPS network in France, for analyzing the temporal variation of deformation tensors or the change of deformation in time at every point of the network in the study area have been used for illustrating the practical application of the proposed method.