SPATIALANALYSISINAGISENVIRONMENTObjectiveBytakingadvantageoftheabilityofgeographicinformationsystems(GIS)tostore,select,manipulate,explore,anddisplaygeo-referenceddata,thepurposeofthisresearchistodevelopwithinaGISenvironmentavarietyofmethods,techniques,andapproachesfortheanalysisofspatialandtime-spacedataandmodels.BackgroundProblemsofhumanhealth,socialdeprivation,globalenvironmentalchange,industrialandeconomicdevelopment,andahostofothersalldemandthatwemakesenseofwhatishappeningintheworldaroundus.Thetermspatialanalysisencompassesawiderangeoftechniquesforanalyzing,visualizing,simplifying,andtheorizingaboutgeographicdata.Methodsofspatialanalysiscanbeassimpleastakingmeasurementsfromamap,orassophisticatedasthemostabstractformsofmathematicalstatistics.Atthesametime,wearebeingfloodedbythebenefitsofnewtechnologiesforEarthobservation.NewremotesensingsatellitesareprovidingunprecedentedamountsofdataonaspectsoftheEarthenvironment,andnewsourcesofdemographic,social,andeconomicdataarealsobecomingavailableatfinerspatialdetail.Yetourabilityto"drinkfromthefirehose",extractmeaning,andmakeusefuldecisionshasnotkeptpace.Wecannolongerrelyonthehumaneyeandbrainalone,butmustaugmentthemthroughthedevelopmentofimprovedtechniquesforsiftingthroughdatatofindpatternsandoutliers;formoreeffectivevisualizationofdata;fortestingtheoriesandhypotheses;andformakingdecisions.ToremainatthecuttingedgeofGIStechnology,analyticandcomputationalmethodsmustbedevisedthatallowforsolutionstoproblemsconditionedbyGISdatamodelsandthenatureofspatialandspace-timeinquiries.Newformsofstatisticalanalysisareneededtoassesstherelationshipsbetweenvariablesinavarietyofspatialcontexts.Newtheoriesmustbedevisedthatframeourunderstandingofrelationshipsbetweenvariablesatnewlevelsofresolutionanddimension.Whatistherelationship,forexample,betweenmoistureandplantgrowthwhenourreferenceisasquarekilometerofearthspace?Howdoweassesstheclusteringocasesofmalariawhenourenvironmentaldataarerecordedinlittlerectanglesonemeteracross?Spatialdatam