3 - Basic Geographical Analysis With Spatial Information in Coastal Environments

Summary

Chapter 3 introduces basic geometric operations with spatial data, including measurement of distance, area, proximity, buffer, distance decay, overlay and the application of contextual operators. Different spatial datasets can be linked through their locations or attributes. Spatial point patterns can be explored to see whether they are clustered, dispersed or spatially structured. Inferential statistical methods test the significance of patterns detected (e.g. the significance of a cluster or ‘hotpot’ of points). Raster datasets can be analysed with contextual operators, trend surface analysis and map algebra. Conditional statements use Boolean logic to query spatial data. This forms the basis of multi-criteria decision analysis for coastal management. Exploratory spatial data analysis detects patterns using statistical tools and techniques.