A method to model the NMR signal and/or noise functions as stochastic processes. Locally relevant statistics for the signal and/or noise processes are derived directly from the set of individual coil images, in the form of array correlation matrices, by averaging individual coil image cross-products over two or more pixel locations. An optimal complex weight vector is computed on the basis of the estimated signal and noise correlation statistics. The weight vector is applied to coherently combine the individual coil images at a single pixel location, at multiple pixel locations, or over the entire image field of view (FOV).