Hello,
I was asked this morning by a colleague to concisely define spatial analysis,
and produce a list of techniques used by GIS that could be described as being
spatial analysis, all on one piece of paper. Having looked at my GIS textbook
collection I can't seem to find any real definitions - they are all very vague.
They all use the phrase extensively without actually saying what it means. Has
anyone got any ideas on this one ??
Cheers, Al.
On 21 Nov 1996, Alastair Duncan wrote:
Hello,
I was asked this morning by a colleague to concisely define spatial analysis,
and produce a list of techniques used by GIS that could be described as being
spatial analysis, all on one piece of paper. Having looked at my GIS textbook
collection I can't seem to find any real definitions - they are all very vague.
They all use the phrase extensively without actually saying what it means. Has
anyone got any ideas on this one ??Cheers, Al.
To me, "spatial analysis" implies analysis of a point or points using a
technique that considers spatial placement of data. In GIS, common
techniques include:
buffering
cost or friction surfaces
many filtering approaches
line-of-sight (viewshed) analysis
network analysis
clumping or clustering
watershed delineation
There are probably quite a few more that I couldn't think of. This is, of
course, only my opinion, and probably does not reflect the view my employer!
Regards,
--
Malcolm D. Williamson - GIS Specialist E-mail: malcolm@cast.uark.edu
Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies Telephone: (501) 575-6159
Ozark Rm. 12 Fax: (501) 575-5218
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701