What technique involves using "inverse distance weighting" to create contours from irregular data?

The technique that involves using "inverse distance weighting" to create contours from irregular data is interpolation. This method estimates unknown values at certain locations by considering the known values surrounding those locations. Inverse distance weighting specifically suggests that the influence of a known value decreases with distance; values that are closer to the unknown point have a greater weight in determining its estimated value.

This technique is particularly useful in creating smooth contour lines for elevation or other geographic data when those values are not uniformly distributed. It helps to generate a continuous surface that represents the spatial distribution of those values, making it essential for creating maps and analyzing spatial phenomena.

Other choices, while important in their own rights, do not pertain directly to the method of estimating unknown values based on the spatial distribution of existing data. Querying typically refers to extracting specific data from a database, measurements denote the act of obtaining numerical data, and mapping involves the representation of geographic information but does not specifically describe a method for estimating values between known data points.