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Spatial Analysis
Concept and Challenges
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Description and Analysis
Description
Most GIS systems are used
by governments and
private companies to
describe the real world
this help the organization
carry out its work
For example, manage sewer
and water networks
Spatial databases are
important for this
Most GIS systems are
primarily designed for this
purpose
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Description and Analysis
Analysis
Tries to understand the
processes which cause or
create the patterns in the real
world
Understanding processes:
Helps the organization do its
job better
Make better decisions, for
example
Helps us understand the
phenomena itself
This is the role of science
Is the locations of the software industry different
from the telecommucations industry?
Here, we are using centrographic
statistics to help answer this question
Description: Water and Sewer
system
Analysis: Do the locations of the
software and telecommucations
industries differ?
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We will talk about analysis.
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Process, Pattern and Analysis
Processes operating in space create patterns
Spatial Analysis is aimed at:
Identifying and describing the pattern
Identifying and understanding the process
Create Processes
Patterns
(or cause)
Spatial Analysis is aimed at:
Identifying and describing the
pattern
The pattern is clearly
clustered


Identifying and
understanding the process
Access to transportation.
Agglomeration economies*
from sharing ideas, access to
skilled labor, access to
business services.

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We will focus on spatial analysis

*cost savings from many firms
locating in the same area
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Process, Pattern and Analysis
Often, we cannot observe (or see) the
process, so we have to infer (guess at ?) the
process by observing the pattern
Create Processes
Patterns
(or cause)
Infer
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Spatial Analysis: successive levels of sophistication

Four levels of Spatial Analysis:
--Each is more advanced (more difficult!)

1. Spatial data description:
2. Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA)
3. Spatial statistical analysis and hypothesis testing
4. Spatial modeling and prediction
We will look at all 4 levels in this lecture series


More difficult,
but more useful!
(more powerful)
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Spatial Analysis: successive levels of sophistication
1. Spatial data description: classic GIS capabilities
Spatial queries & measurement,
buffering, map layer overlay
The ArcMap
project is an
example of this!
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Spatial Analysis: successive levels of sophistication

2. Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA):
searching for patterns and possible explanations
GeoVisualization through data graphing and mapping
--Density
Kernel
Estimation
--Overlay
transportation
network
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Spatial Analysis: successive levels of sophistication

2. Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA):
searching for patterns and possible explanations
GeoVisualization through data graphing and mapping
Calculation of Centrographic statistics
--Calculation of
Centrographic
Statistics
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Spatial Analysis: successive levels of sophistication
3. Spatial statistical analysis and hypothesis
testing
Are data to be expected or are they
unexpected relative to some statistical model,
usually of a random process (pure chance)

We will look at
statistical hypothesis testing for:
--point patterns
--spatial autocorrelation

We can test if the spatial pattern for software &
telecommmunications companies in Dallas is
clustered, or random (no pattern)


0
-1.96
2.5%
1.96
2.5%
4. Spatial modeling: prediction
Construct models (of processes) to
predict spatial outcomes (patterns)

Notice how the density of points (number
per square km) decreases as we move
away from the highway.

We can construct regression
models to predict location patterns.


Spatial Analysis: successive levels of sophistication
Density of points = f (distance from highway)

However, for spatial data, we need special:
Spatial auto-regressive models
Distance from highway
D
e
n
s
i
t
y

o
f

p
o
i
n
t
s

The first example of Spatial Analysis
John Snows maps of cholera in 1850s London





Was it ESDA or hypothesis testing?
Did he discover the association between water and
cholera after drawing the map: ESDA
Did he draw the map in order to prove the
association: using a map for hypothesis testing

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Issues/Challenges/Problems
in Spatial Analysis


Summarize these now.

Talk in greater detail about them
throughout this lecture series.
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Critical Issues in Spatial Analysis
Spatial autocorrelation
Data from locations near to each other are usually more similar than data from
locations far away from each other
Modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP)
Results may depend on the specific geographic unit used in the study
Province or county; county or city
Ecological fallacy
Results obtained from aggregated data (e.g. provinces) cannot be assumed to apply
to individual people
Scale affects representation and results
Cities may be represented as points or polygons
Results depend on the scale at which the analysis is conducted
Non-uniformity of Space
Phenomena are not distributed evenly in space
Be careful how you interpret results!
Edge issues
Edges of the map, beyond which there is no data, can significantly affect results


Spatial organization is usually important
The results from a traditional regression analysis ignore how the observation
units are organized spatially!







Data from location near to each other are usually more similar than
data from locations far away
Must be considered in your analysis
Also causes serious problems with traditional statistical hypotheses testing
Spatial statistical models are essential


Spatial Autocorrelation

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Modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP)
Results may depend on the specific geographic unit used in the study
Dangerous to assume results at one level will be the same at another level
Provinces versus counties also a scale issue
Problem is biggest here
Census Tract
(used by US Census Bureau for data)
Zipcode Areas
(used by US Post Office)
Modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP)
Census Tracts versus Zip codes
Not a scale issue
Problem not as big--usually
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Aggregation
Different ways of
aggregating the data

Note how:
variance (s
2
)
decreases
Correlation
coefficient (r
XY
)
increases (cos of
less variability)


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Ecological fallacy
Results from aggregated data (e.g. provinces) cannot be applied
to individual people
A special case of the MAUP problem
Encountered in spatial and non-spatial analysis
Usually because a variable was left out (omitted variable)
If low income provinces have
high crime rate.
Cannot assume low income people
commit crimes.
Perhaps low income provinces do
not have money to pay for police.
income
c
r
i
m
e

r
a
t
e

Scale:
ratio of distance on a map, to the
equivalent distance on the earth's surface.
Scale must be shown on every map
Use scale bar because that is correct when
map is enlarged or reduced


Affects how objects are represented on a map
and how data is stored in the data base
Important for research design and data collection
Cities may be points or polygons



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Large scale >objects are
large, small area covered
Small scale >objects are
small, large area covered
Km
0 1 2
point
polygon
Dallas
Scale: always a very important issue in spatial analysis

Results obtained at one scale do not necessarily apply at other
scales
A pattern may be clustered at one scale but dispersed at another scale










MAUP may be considered to be a scale issue (but not always)

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Population
clusterd into
cities
City populations
are dispersed
Bank robberies are clustered
But only because banks are clustered
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Bank robbery
Banks
Bonnie and Clyde were two very famous bank robbers in Texas in the 1930s
They were asked Why do you rob banks?
They replied Because that is where the money is!
What a stupid question!
(the expected answer was, perhaps, because we needed money for food)
Bank Robberies
Non-uniformity of Space: things are not evenly distributed in space

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Illiteracy in China
Non-uniformity of Space
and Choropleth Maps
Henan has high
illiteracy!
Henan does not have
high illiteracy!
Non-uniformity of Space and
Choropleth Maps
Always normalize data if drawing a choropleth map
By total population
By geographic area
Do not map counts unless population and/or geographic
area are the same size for all observation units
Failing to normalize is a very common mistakes made by
non-professional GIS people
You are professionals
Do not make that mistake!
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Edge or Boundary Effect
Every study region has a boundary (unless you study the entire world!)
You do not have data for outside your study region
However, the outside data can affect the inside data if there is spatial
autocorrelation
Consequently, edges of the map, beyond which there is no data, can
significantly effect results

Use the toroid concept
--bends the left edge to meet the right
and the top to meet the bottom
--uses all the data
--assumes that there is no systematic
spatial trend in data
Solutions:
Core study
region
Use Core/Periphery
--analyze only the core
--use edge only for neighborhood
calculations
--reduces amount of data available
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periphery or
guard area
What is the most common
mistake in GIS analysis?


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Much more basic than any
discussed above.
NAME FIPS CODE POP2000
Alabama 01 AL 4,447,100
Alaska 02 AK 626,932
..
Georgia 13 GA 8,186,453
Hawaii 15 HI 1,211,537
Idaho 16 ID 1,293,953
..
Wisconsin 55 WI 5,363,675
Wyoming 56 WY 493,782
51 states Total 282,421,906
Single most common error in GIS Analysis
--intending a one to one join of attribute data to spatial table
--getting a one to many join of attribute data to spatial table
Spatial
FID SHAPE NAME FIPS CODE POP2000
0 Polygon Alabama 01 AL 4,447,100
1 Polygon Alaska 02 AK 626,932
..
11 Polygon Georgia 13 GA 8,186,453
12 Polygon Hawaii-Hawaii 15 HI 1,211,537
13 Polygon Hawaii-Maui 15 HI 1,211,537
14 Polygon Hawaii-Oahu 15 HI 1,211,537
15 Polygon Hawaii-Kauai 15 HI 1,211,537
16 Polygon Idaho 16 ID 1,293,953
..
53 Polygon Wisconsin 55 WI 5,363,675
54 Polygon Wyoming 56 WY 493,782
Total 286,056,517
After joining
attribute to
spatial data
Hawaii
54 observations
51 states
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If there are islands, the province must drawn as a multi-part
feature in the shapefile (the spatial data)
--then there is only one row in the attribute table
If each island is drawn as a separate feature, there will be
multiple rows in the attribute table
Errors with the
attribute data will
occur if Hong Kong or
Guangdong are not
correctly drawn in the
shapefile (spatial data)
Measuring Space
Not easy!
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Spatial is special: 3 primary concepts
Distance



Adjacency
or neighborhood


Interaction
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Fundamental Spatial Concepts
Distance
The magnitude of spatial separation
Euclidean (straight line) distance often only an approximation
Adjacency or neighborhood
Nominal or binary (0,1) equivalent of distance
Levels of adjacency exist: 1
st
, 2
nd
, 3
rd
nearest neighbor, etc..
Interaction
The strength of the relationship between entities
An inverse function of distance
Distance is not simple!
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Cartesian distance via Pythagorus

Use for projected data
Spherical distance via spherical coordinates
Cos d = (sin a sin b) + (cos a cos b cos P)
where: d = arc distance
a = Latitude of A
b = Latitude of B
P = degrees of long. A to B
Use for unprojected data
possible distance metrics:
Euclidean straight line/airline
city block/manhattan metric
distance through network
time/friction through network
2 2
) ( ) ( j i j i ij Y Y X X d + =
Spatial neighbors based on adjacency
Rook:
Sharing a
boundary
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Hexagons
Irregular
Square raster
Queen:
Sharing a
boundary
or a point
1st and 2nd order adjacency
hexagon
rook queen
1
st
order
2
nd
order
Interaction
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
ij
d

i
ij
e
P P
I
Gravity Model: Interaction
between i and j is a function of:
P
i
--the population (size) at i
P
j
--the population (size) at j
d
ij
--the distance from i to j

Based on the Gravity Model
Based on a Hierarchy
How do you fly from
Zhengzhou to Wuhan?
Wuhan Zhengzhou
Shanghai
Central Place
Hierarchy
Today, we discussed spatial analysis
and some of its problems and
challenges
However, to do spatial analysis you
must have spatial data
Next time:
Spatial data and why it is special!
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Texts
OSullivan, David and David Unwin, 2010.
Geographic Information Analysis. Hoboken, NJ:
John Wiley, 2nd ed.

Other Useful Books:
Mitchell, Andy 2005. ESRI Guide to GIS Analysis Volume 2: Spatial
Measurement & Statistics. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.
Allen, David W 2009. GIS Tutorial II: Spatial Analysis Workbook.
Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.
Wong, David W.S. and Jay Lee 2005. Statistical Analysis of Geographic
Information. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2nd ed.