Spatial Analysis I: Fundamentals

You should be familiar, by now, with the basic spatial analytical capabilities of GIS since you have been performing many of them in your labs (both 270 and 370). However, since the contents of Chapters 13, 14 & 15 in your text, or in Chapters 7 & 8 in GIS Basics, and Chapters 5, 6 & 7 in Geospatial Analysis, cover a range of material, in this lecture I will cover an eclectic selection of the methods of spatial analysis.

  • Be able to define spatial data analysis and to determine whether a method is spatial or not.
  • Know of some of the methods for detecting relations between the various properties of places and understand the need for preparing data for such tests.
  • Understand distance effects, and how they can be used in the creation of clusters, hotspots, and to identify outliers.
  • Know what is meant by kernel density.