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trend surface analysis
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[mathematics]
A surface interpolation method that fits a polynomial surface by least-squares regression through the sample data points. This method results in a surface that minimizes the variance of the surface in relation to the input values. The resulting surface rarely goes through the sample data points. This is the simplest method for describing large variations, but the trend surface is susceptible to outliers in the data. Trend surface analysis is used to find general tendencies of the sample data, rather than to model a surface precisely.
