Spatial analysis is the process of examining the locations, attributes, and relationships of geographic features to answer questions about patterns, distributions, and relationships in space.
Core Spatial Questions
- Where is it? — location and mapping
- What is here? — attribute queries at a location
- What is near? — proximity analysis
- What changed? — temporal analysis
- What patterns exist? — clustering and distribution analysis
Common Spatial Operations
Buffer
A buffer creates a zone of a specified distance around a feature. Find all schools within 500 metres of a major road uses a buffer around roads to identify nearby schools.
Overlay
Overlay combines two or more spatial layers to identify areas where they intersect. Which flood zones overlap with residential areas is an overlay question.
Spatial Join
A spatial join adds attributes from one layer to features in another based on their spatial relationship. Joining census data to neighbourhood boundaries adds demographic information to each neighbourhood polygon.
Clustering
Clustering analysis identifies groups of features that are spatially concentrated. Hot spot analysis finds areas with unusually high concentrations of a phenomenon.
Public health agencies use spatial analysis to identify areas with high rates of chronic disease, poor access to healthcare, or environmental hazards, enabling targeted interventions where they are most needed.
Learn about the standard web format for geographic data: GeoJSON.