ESTIMATING THE PARAMETERS OF THE WEIGHTED L(P) NORM BY LINEAR-REGRESSION

Empirical distance functions are used for such purposes as predicting travel distances in a transportation network, estimating the lengths o f conductors used in piping and wiring systems, verifying distance dat a, and formulating location models. It has been previously found that when the reference axes are correctly rotated, the weighted l(p) norm is a robust distance predictor. However, a specialized computer progra m is required to fit this model to a geographical region. In this pape r we show how the parameters of the model may be accurately calculated with a standard linear regression program, thus eliminating the need to develop or buy specialized computer software. The method has been v erified empirically for several geographical regions.