County Level Estimation using Data from the U.S. National Resources Inventory

摘要

We use a transformed Fay-Herriot model to estimate wind erosion at the county level in Iowa. A soil erodibility index is available from administrative records for each county in Iowa and is used to form the predictor. The response variable is the soilloss due to wind as recorded in the 2002 National Resources Inventory. We propose bias corrected, and calibrated small area predictors such that the weighted sum of the county predictors matches the state level direct estimate. The standard errors are estimated by using a parametric double-bootstrap method. The small area predictions have estimated coefficients of variation that average about three fifth of those of the direct estimates.