Geographic Data Science

Space, formally

For a statistical method to be explicitly spatial, it needs to contain some representation of the geography, or spatial context

One of the most common ways is through Spatial Weights Matrices

• (Geo)Visualization: translating numbers into a (visual) language that the human brain “speaks better”
• Spatial Weights Matrices: translating geography into a (numerical) language that a computer “speaks better”.

Core element in several spatial analysis techniques:

• Spatial autocorrelation
• Spatial clustering / geodemographics
• Spatial regression

W as a formal representation of space

W

$$w_{ij} = \left\{ \begin{array}{rl} x > 0 &\mbox{ if $i$ and $j$ are neighbors} \\ 0 &\mbox{ otherwise} \end{array} \right\}$$ w_ii = 0 by convention

…What is a neighbor???