Exploring Spatial Analysis In Geographic Information Systems

For students and professionals who wish to quickly become proficient with spacial analytical techniques employed in geographic information systems.

For students and professionals who wish to quickly become proficient with spacial analytical techniques employed in geographic information systems.

An introductory overview of spatial analysis and statistics through GIS, including worked examples and critical analysis of results.

The Handbook is written for academics, researchers, practitioners and advanced graduate students. It has been designed to be read by those new or starting out in the field of spatial analysis as well as by those who are already familiar with the field. The chapters have been written in such a way that readers who are new to the field will gain important overview and insight. At the same time, those readers who are already practitioners in the field will gain through the advanced and/or updated tools and new materials and state-of-the-art developments included. This volume provides an accounting of the diversity of current and emergent approaches, not available elsewhere despite the many excellent journals and te- books that exist. Most of the chapters are original, some few are reprints from the Journal of Geographical Systems, Geographical Analysis, The Review of Regional Studies and Letters of Spatial and Resource Sciences. We let our contributors - velop, from their particular perspective and insights, their own strategies for m- ping the part of terrain for which they were responsible. As the chapters were submitted, we became the first consumers of the project we had initiated. We gained from depth, breadth and distinctiveness of our contributors’ insights and, in particular, the presence of links between them.

Clear, up-to-date coverage of methods for analyzing geographicalinformation in a GIS context Geographic Information Analysis, Second Edition is fullyupdated to keep pace with the most recent developments of spatialanalysis in a geographic information systems (GIS) environment.Still focusing on the universal aspects of this science, thisrevised edition includes new coverage on geovisualization andmapping as well as recent developments using local statistics. Building on the fundamentals, this book explores such keyconcepts as spatial processes, point patterns, and autocorrelationin area data, as well as in continuous fields. Also addressed aremethods for combining maps and performing computationally intensiveanalysis. New chapters tackle mapping, geovisualization, and localstatistics, including the Moran Scatterplot and GeographicallyWeighted Regression (GWR). An appendix provides a primer on linearalgebra using matrices. Complete with chapter objectives, summaries, "thoughtexercises," explanatory diagrams, and a chapter-by-chapterbibliography, Geographic Information Analysis is a practicalbook for students, as well as a valuable resource for researchersand professionals in the industry.

Uses case studies to examine the various applications of each type of geographic information. * Considers geographic information as a technical problem, an empowering application, a pure science endeavor, an academic pursuit and a social necessity. * Provides a wide range of examples and applications to help readers understand technical discussions.

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provide an enhanced environment for spatial data processing. The ability of geographic information systems to handle and analyse spatially referenced data may be seen as a major characteristic which distinguishes GIS from information systems developed to serve the needs of business data processing as well as from CAD systems or other systems whose primary objective is map production. This book, which contains contributions from a wide-ranging group of international scholars, demonstrates the progress which has been achieved so far at the interface of GIS technology and spatial analysis and planning. The various contributions bring together theoretical and conceptual, technical and applied issues. Topics covered include the design and use of GIS and spatial models, AI tools for spatial modelling in GIS, spatial statistical analysis and GIS, GIS and dynamic modelling, GIS in urban planning and policy making, information systems for policy evaluation, and spatial decision support systems.

The availability of spatial databases and widespread use of geographic information systems has stimulated increasing interest in the analysis and modelling of spatial data. Spatial data analysis focuses on detecting patterns, and on exploring and modelling relationships between them in order to understand the processes responsible for their emergence. In this way, the role of space is emphasised , and our understanding of the working and representation of space, spatial patterns, and processes is enhanced. In applied research, the recognition of the spatial dimension often yields different and more meaningful results and helps to avoid erroneous conclusions. This book aims to provide an introduction into spatial data analysis to graduates interested in applied statistical research. The text has been structured from a data-driven rather than a theory-based perspective, and focuses on those models, methods and techniques which are both accessible and of practical use for graduate students. Exploratory techniques as well as more formal model-based approaches are presented, and both area data and origin-destination flow data are considered.