Industrial Tutorial 1: Visualization and Spatial Statistics with ArcGIS

Visualization and spatial statistics with ArcGIS

Abstract

When spatial data are assessed and analysis is to comprise spatial aspects, classical statistics are not suitable anymore. In the project MapSpace (SFB/TR8 funded by DFG), for example, some psychological hypotheses refer to the location of behavior while wayfinding. We will use spatial statistics to test these hypotheses. In addition, modeling of specific aspects of wayfinding behavior can call for spatial statistics and pattern analysis. In many fields of research, there are similar typical questions that call for spatial statistics:

• Can complex spatial patterns be generalized?
• What is the probability of outcomes for an event at a given location?
• Does the magnitude or frequency of some phenomenon differ among locations?
• Does an actual spatial pattern match some expected pattern?
• What model fits best the spatial data?

The tutorial will provide an introduction into ArcGIS and its potential uses in spatial cognition research.

Contents

• Introduction: ArcGIS and its use in spatial cognition research (e.g., in project SFB/TR8 project MapSpace)
• Spatial statistics: Theoretical introduction of basic concepts and methods
• Procedures in ArcGIS for visualization, spatial statistics, and modeling
• Demonstration of applications in ArcGIS
• Discussion of applications in the research of the participants

Audience

Participants will receive basic concepts of GIS as well as skills of using ArcGIS and importing and organizing spatial data with it. Using the most commonly used spatial statistic tools attendants will be able to analyze data regarding its geographical distribution and spatial patterns. The focus of the tutorial will be on applied spatial statistics and what can be expected from analysis. Mathematical derivations will be mentioned. After attending this tutorial participants should be able to decide whether data has any spatial reference and if so, which tools are available to analyze the spatial correlation.

Important notice: For technical reasons the number of participants is limited.

Instructor

Dr. Niels Krabisch holds a Ph.D. in Geography. Having studied the distribution of various phenomena with any spatial reference he was member of an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Regensburg. After receiving his Ph.D. he worked as a GIS-consultant and -trainer and engaged himself in the interpretation and quantification of data. He is now working as a trainer and member of the technical support team at ESRI Geoinformatik GmbH in Kranzberg.

Literature

• Getis, A. and K. Ord: Local Spatial Statistics: An Overview. In: P. Longley and M. Batty: Spatial Analysis: Modelling in a GIS Environment. Wiley, 1995.
• Lee, J. and D.W.S. Wong: Statistical Analysis with ArcView GIS. Wiley, 2001.
  
• A. Mitchell: The ESRI Guide to GIS Analysis. Volume 2: Spatial Measurements and Statistics. Redlands, 2005.