Spatial analysis

From Geography

The application of quantitative methods in locational analysis within human geography and sometimes used as a synonym for that portion of the discipline that concentrates on the geometry of the landscape (cf. spatial science). O’Sullivan and Unwin (2002) present spatial analysis as the study of the arrangements of points, lines, areas and surfaces on a map, and of their interrelationships. Analyses of those separate components have deployed procedures adapted from other sciences – nearest-neighbour analysis and quadrat analysis, for point pattern analysis; graph theory for lines; and trend surface analysis for surfaces, for example. Whereas many geographers have undertaken analyses of the interrelationships using techniques from within the general linear model, others have argued that spatial analysis poses particular statistical problems because of the nature of spatial data (cf. spatial autocorrelation), thus requiring special techniques.

References:

Johnston, R., Gregory, D. Pratt, G. & Watts, M. (2000) The Dictionary of Human Geography, 4th edition. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishing; O'Sullivan, D. and D. J. Unwin (2002). Geographic Information Analysis. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley

Published by Mike van der Linden and Paul Cuijpers