Optimum designs when the observations are second-order processes

Let the process {Y(x,t) : t?T} be observable for each x in some compact set X. Assume that Y(x, t) = θ₀f₀(x)(t) + … + θ_kf_k(x)(t) + N(t) where f_i are continuous functions from X into the reproducing kernel Hilbert space H of the mean zero random process N. The optimum designs are characterized by an Elfving's theorem with $\text{R}$ the closed convex hull of the set {(φ, f(x))_H : 6φ 6_H ≤ 1, x?X}, where (·, ·)_H is the inner product on H. It is shown that if X is convex and f_i are linear the design points may be chosen from the extreme points of X. In some problems each linear functional c′θ can be optimally estimated by a design on one point x(c). These problems are completely characterized. An example is worked and some partial results on minimax designs are obtained.