  Inference for spatial generalized linear mixed models (SGLMMs) for
high-dimensional non-Gaussian spatial data is computationally intensive. The
computational challenge is due to the high-dimensional random effects and
because Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms for these models tend to be
slow mixing. Moreover, spatial confounding inflates the variance of fixed
effect (regression coefficient) estimates. Our approach addresses both the
computational and confounding issues by replacing the high-dimensional spatial
random effects with a reduced-dimensional representation based on random
projections. Standard MCMC algorithms mix well and the reduced-dimensional
setting speeds up computations per iteration. We show, via simulated examples,
that Bayesian inference for this reduced-dimensional approach works well both
in terms of inference as well as prediction, our methods also compare favorably
to existing "reduced-rank" approaches. We also apply our methods to two real
world data examples, one on bird count data and the other classifying rock
types.
