The VARIOGRAM Procedure

specifies a SAS data set that contains the x and y coordinate variables and the VAR statement variables.

specifies that ascending observation numbers be used across BY groups for the observation labels in the appropriate output data sets and the OBSERVATIONS plot, instead of resetting the observation number in the beginning of each BY group. The IDGLOBAL option is ignored if no BY variables are specified. Also, if you specify the ID statement, then the IDGLOBAL option is ignored unless you also specify the IDNUM option in the PROC VARIOGRAM statement.

specifies that the observation number be used for the observation labels in the appropriate output data sets and the OBSERVATIONS plot. The IDNUM option takes effect when you specify the ID statement; otherwise, it is ignored.

suppresses the normal display of results. The NOPRINT option is useful when you want only to create one or more output data sets with the procedure.

Note: This option temporarily disables the Output Delivery System (ODS); see the section ODS Graphics for more information.

specifies a SAS data set in which to store the autocorrelation weights information for each pair of points in the DATA= data set. Use this option with caution when the DATA= data set is large. If n denotes the number of observations in the DATA= data set, then the OUTACWEIGHTS= data set contains observations.

See the section OUTACWEIGHTS=SAS-data-set for details.

specifies a SAS data set in which to store summary distance information. This data set contains a count of all pairs of data points within a given distance interval. The number of distance intervals is controlled by the NHCLASSES= option in the COMPUTE statement. The OUTDISTANCE= data set is useful for plotting modified histograms of the count data for determining appropriate lag distances. See the section OUTDIST=SAS-data-set for details.

specifies a SAS data set in which to store information that is illustrated in the Moran plot, namely the standardized value of each observation in the DATA= data set and the weighted average of its local neighbors. You must also specify the LAGDISTANCE= and AUTOCORRELATION options in the COMPUTE statement; otherwise, the OUTMORAN= data set request is ignored.

The OUTMORAN= data set is useful when you want to save the information that is illustrated in the Moran scatter plot. The data set can also contain entries of missing observations with neighbors, although these observations are not displayed in the Moran plot. However, if the only observations with neighbors in your input data set are observations with missing values, then the OUTMORAN= output data set is empty.

See the section OUTMORAN=SAS-data-set for details.

specifies a SAS data set in which to store distance and angle information for each pair of points in the DATA= data set.

Use this option with caution when your DATA= data set is large. Assume that your DATA= data set has n observations. When you specify the NOVARIOGRAM option in the COMPUTE statement, the OUTPAIR= data set is populated with all pairs that can be formed with the n observations.

If the NOVARIOGRAM option is not specified, then the OUTPAIR= data set contains only pairs of data that are located within a certain distance away from each other. Specifically, it contains pairs whose distance between observations belongs to a lag class up to the specified MAXLAGS= option in the COMPUTE statement. Then, depending on your specification of the LAGDISTANCE= and MAXLAGS= options, the OUTPAIR= data set might contain or fewer pairs.

Finally, you can restrict the number of pairs in the OUTPAIR= data set with the OUTPDISTANCE= option in the COMPUTE statement. The OUTPDISTANCE= option in the COMPUTE statement excludes pairs of points when the distance between the pairs exceeds the OUTPDISTANCE= value.

See the section OUTPAIR=SAS-data-set for details.

specifies a SAS data set in which to store the continuity measures.

See the section OUTVAR=SAS-data-set for details.

controls the plots produced through ODS Graphics. When you specify only one plot request, you can omit the parentheses around the plot request. Here are some examples:

plots=none
plots=observ
plots=(observ semivar)
plots(unpack)=semivar
plots=(semivar(cla unpack) semivar semivar(rob))

ODS Graphics must be enabled before plots can be requested. For example:

ods graphics on;

proc variogram data=sashelp.thick;
   compute novariogram;
   coordinates xc=East yc=North;
   var Thick;
run;

ods graphics off;

For more information about enabling and disabling ODS Graphics, see the section Enabling and Disabling ODS Graphics in Chapter 21: Statistical Graphics Using ODS.

If ODS Graphics is enabled but you omit the PLOTS option or have specified PLOTS=ALL, then PROC VARIOGRAM produces a default set of plots, which might be different for different COMPUTE statement options, as discussed in the following.

The following global-plot-options are available:

The following individual plot-requests and plot options are available: