A comparison of Dirichlet kernel regression methods on the simplex

Abstract: An asymmetric Dirichlet kernel version of the Gasser-M\"uller estimator is introduced for regression surfaces on the simplex, extending the univariate analog proposed by Chen [Statist. Sinica, 10(1) (2000), pp. 73-91]. Its asymptotic properties are investigated under the condition that the design points are known and fixed, including an analysis of its mean integrated squared error (MISE) and its asymptotic normality. The estimator is also applicable in a random design setting. A simulation study compares its performance with two recently proposed alternatives: the Nadaraya--Watson estimator with Dirichlet kernel and the local linear smoother with Dirichlet kernel. The results show that the local linear smoother consistently outperforms the others. To illustrate its applicability, the local linear smoother is applied to the GEMAS dataset to analyze the relationship between soil composition and pH levels across various agricultural and grazing lands in Europe.