Spatial Data Analysis: Understanding Autocorrelation, Quadrat Counts, and Geostatistics, Exams of Environmental Science

An introduction to spatial data analysis, focusing on spatial autocorrelation, quadrat counts, and geostatistics. Spatial autocorrelation refers to the correlation of a data point with itself in space. Quadrat counts involve gridding a study area and counting the occurrences of variables in each cell. Geostatistics is a commonly used method for spatial data analysis, which includes determining a variogram and using it to carry out kriging for predicting values of variables in between data points.

Typology: Exams

Pre 2010

Uploaded on 08/19/2009

koofers-user-qhc-1
koofers-user-qhc-1 🇺🇸

10 documents

1 / 13

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
1
Module 9: Spatial Statistics
9.1 Spatial Data Analysis
8/15/2003 Module 9.1 2
Spatial Autocorrelation
Spatial autocorrelation is similar to temporal
autocorrelation
Data that are positively autocorrelated in
space are more similar the closer together
they are
As data points become further and further
apart, they are less alike
Data that are negatively autocorrelated in
space are more similar the more distant they
are. That is much less common.
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa
pfd

Partial preview of the text

Download Spatial Data Analysis: Understanding Autocorrelation, Quadrat Counts, and Geostatistics and more Exams Environmental Science in PDF only on Docsity!

Module 9: Spatial Statistics

9.1 Spatial Data Analysis

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 2

Spatial Autocorrelation

Š Spatial autocorrelation is similar to temporal

autocorrelation

Š Data that are positively autocorrelated in

space are more similar the closer together

they are

Š As data points become further and further

apart, they are less alike

Š Data that are negatively autocorrelated in

space are more similar the more distant they

are. That is much less common.

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 3

Spatial Autocorrelation

Š Examples of positively autocorrelated

data:

  • soil characteristics
  • makeup of plant communities
  • contamination that has spread from a point

source

  • geology
  • etc

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 4

Spatial Autocorrelation

Š Like time series analysis, the field of

spatial data analysis is large and

complex

Š This module will give an overview of

some of the concepts and techniques

as an introduction to the topic

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 7

Quadrat Counts

Š Then

Š should equal

  • 1 if the counts are randomly distributed
  • less than 1 if they are uniformly distributed
  • greater than 1 if they are clustering

R X

s

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 8

Quadrat Counts

Š The null hypothesis is that the data are

randomly distributed over the area of study

Š The test statistic is

Š which has a t distribution with n-1 degrees of

freedom

T

R

n

=

1

2

1

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 9

Quadrat Counts - Example

Distance East/West 30 0 0 8 4 1 0 0 Distance 20 1 2 13 7 3 1 0 North/South 10 2 6 20 14 6 1 0 0 0 4 12 18 8 2 1 -10 1 3 9 10 15 2 0 -20 0 1 3 6 7 9 3 -30 0 2 1 2 4 3 6 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30

Mean 4. Variance 25. R 5. T (0.05, 48) 22. Reject null hypothesis. Counts are not randomly distributed - clusters exist.

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 10

Spatial Data Analysis

Š Calculating the correlation between two

spatial data variables is difficult and requires

specialized software

Š There are several ways to do spatial data

analysis that involve computer intensive

methods (similar to bootstrapping).

Š These are outlined in Manly and won’t be

covered here.

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 13

Variograms

Š There are several types of variograms

Š The variogram cloud simply plots the points.

Š An empirical variogram creates a curve

through the points using smoothing or

averaging techniques

Š A model variogram fits a mathematical

function to the data and estimates its

parameters

Š At each step, the variogram becomes

smoother and smoother

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 14

Variograms - Example

Š Our example data set:

Distance East/West 30 0 0 8 4 1 0 0 Distance 20 1 2 13 7 3 1 0 North/South 10 2 6 20 14 6 1 0 0 0 4 12 18 8 2 1 -10 1 3 9 10 15 2 0 -20 0 1 3 6 7 9 3 -30 0 2 1 2 4 3 6 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 15

Variogram Clouds - Example

Š See Manly Figures 9.4 and 9.5 on

pages 242 and 243.

Š It is often difficult to see the underlying

relationship from a variogram cloud.

Š Some sort of smoothing is needed.

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 16

Empirical Variograms - Example

Š The empirical variogram for our

example data set is:

Semivariogram

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Distance

0

10

20

30 Co effi cie nt

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 19

Model Variograms

Š Gaussian Function

γ(h) = c + (S - c)(1 - exp(-3h 2 /a^2 ))

Š where h is the distance, c is the nugget,

S is the sill, and a is the range of

influence.

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 20

Model Variograms

Š Spherical Function

γ(h) = c + (S - c)(1.5(h/a) - 0.5(h/a)3)^ h<=a

c otherwise

Š where h is the distance, c is the nugget,

S is the sill, and a is the range of

influence.

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 21

Model Variograms - Example

Semivariogram

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Distance

0

10

20

30

Coefficient

The spherical model variogram for

our example data set is:

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 22

Kriging

Š A common problem in spatial data analysis is to
determine the value of a variable at a point in space
where it wasn’t measured
Š Kriging is a technique to do this
Š It relies, in part, on the fitted model variogram
Š The kriging estimate is a weighted linear combination
of the known values where the weights are chosen so
that the prediction errors have the minimum variance
possible
Š Ordinary kriging allows the true mean to vary over the
study area

8/15/2003 Module 9.1 25

Spatial Data Analysis

Spatial data analysis is a complex area worthy

of additional study.

It is gaining in importance due to all of the

spatial data being collected to support GIS

efforts

The most common type of spatial data analysis

comes from geostatistics and involves

computing variograms, fitting theoretical

models, and using it to support kriging.