In this topic
- About spatial statistics
- Spatial statistics using geoprocessing tools
- Spatial statistics and ArcObjects
About spatial statistics
Statistical analysis helps you extract additional information from your geographic information system (GIS) data that might not be obvious simply by looking at a map—information such as how attribute values are distributed, whether there are spatial trends in the data, or whether the features form spatial patterns. It can be used to perform spatial pattern analysis and regression analysis. These types of analyses summarize the key characteristics of a spatial distribution, identify statistically significant spatial clusters or spatial outliers, assess overall patterns of clustering or dispersion, and model spatial relationships. They answer questions such as the following:
- Which site is most accessible?
- Where is the population center?
- What is the primary wind direction for this region in winter?
- Which species has the broadest territory?
- Where are the 911 call hot spots?
- Does the spatial pattern of the disease mirror the spatial pattern of the population at risk?
- Are gang-related crimes remaining geographically fixed, or are they spreading?
- Where can you find anomalous spending patterns in Los Angeles?
- What is the relationship between income and public transportation usage? Is that relationship consistent across the study area?
- What factors contribute to consistently high test scores?
Spatial statistics using geoprocessing tools
The functionality for performing spatial pattern analysis and regression analysis is available through the geoprocessing tools in the Spatial Statistics toolbox as well as some additional tools for rasters in the Spatial Analyst toolbox.
For more information on how to use these tools see A quick tour of executing tools in the ArcGIS Desktop User Help system.
Vector statistics
To calculate spatial statistics on vector data, the tools in the Spatial Statistics toolbox are used. See An overview of the Spatial Statistics toolbox for details.
Most of the tools in the Spatial Statistics toolbox are script tools written in Python. To view the source code in an ArcGIS application, such as ArcMap, right-click one of the tools and select Edit.
Raster statistics
The Spatial Analyst extension includes several statistical functions that can be used to analyze rasters, primarily to summarize attribute values and assign the summary statistics to cells in a new raster layer. These are located in several different toolsets with the Spatial Analyst toolbox.
|
Tool
|
Location
|
Input
|
Output
|
What it does
|
|
Local Toolset
|
Multiple rasters
|
Raster
|
Calculates the specified statistic for each cell based on multiple inputs
|
|
|
Neighborhood Toolset
|
Raster
|
Raster
|
Summarizes the values for a raster within a defined neighborhood around each cell, and assigns the value to that cell in the output raster
|
|
|
Neighborhood Toolset
|
Point features
|
Raster
|
Summarizes values for point feature attributes within a defined neighborhood, and assigns values to cells in the output raster
|
|
|
Neighborhood Toolset
|
Line features
|
Raster
|
Summarizes values for line feature attributes within a defined neighborhood, and assigns values to cells in the output raster
|
|
|
Zonal Toolset
|
Raster, or polygon features
|
Raster or summary table
|
Summarizes values of a raster surface by categories or classes (zones) of the input raster or polygon dataset
|
Spatial statistics using ArcObjects
There are no ArcObjects to assist you in this type of analysis. Use the geoprocessing tools discussed in the previous section. You can use these tools in your .NET applications. For more information on how to use these tools, see How to run a geoprocessing tool.
See Also:
Statistical analysisAn overview of the Spatial Statistics toolbox
Spatial Statistics toolbox sample applications
An overview of the Analyzing Patterns toolset
An overview of the Mapping Clusters toolset
An overview of the Measuring Geographic Distributions toolset
An overview of the Modeling Spatial Relationships toolset
Regression analysis basics
An overview of the Spatial Analyst toolbox
| Development licensing | Deployment licensing |
|---|---|
| ArcView | ArcView |
| ArcEditor | ArcEditor |
| ArcInfo | ArcInfo |
| Engine Developer Kit | Engine Runtime |