Assignment 9: Spatial Statistics

Problem:
The problem in this exercise was to use Spatial Statistical tools to help Emergency responders find statistical trends in their data. We were to use several different spatial analysis tools to analyze their data such as: Average Nearest neighbor tool, the High/Low Clustering tool, the Multi-Distance Spatial Cluster Analysis tool, and the Spatial Autocorrelation tool. With these tools we were able to analyze and interpret the given data to find statistically significant trends.

Analysis Procedures:
Strategies:
For this exercise we used ArcGIS to analyze the data given to us from Fort Worth Fire Department. This data had the information of where their distress calls came from in given months. We would use spatial Statistic tools to analyze the data for trends to help better serve Fire Department planning. The tools we would use were: Average Nearest neighbor tool, the High/Low Clustering tool, the Multi-Distance Spatial Cluster Analysis tool, and the Spatial Autocorrelation tool. Methods: First we ran the Average nearest neighbor tool on the false alarm calls from February 2007, to see if there is any clustering over the entire area. Next we ran the High/Low clustering tool to find clustering in the data at different distance bands from 200 feet to 1200 feet. The Multi-Distance Spatial Cluster tool was used to find the most significant clustering and the distance at which it was located. Finally we joined the calls for Service layer to a grid spatial and used a definition query to find all the grids with at least one call then ran the Spatial Autocorrelation tool eight times at distance bands increasing 50 feet from 250 feet to 600 feet to find the most statistically significant clustering of calls.

Use the Average Nearest Neighbor tool in ArcGIS to see if any clustering occurs in the dataset.

Use the High/Low Clustering tool on the data at distance of 200 to 1200 feet increasing in 200 foot increments to find the distance with the highest Z-score.

Use the MultiDistance Spatial Clustering tool to find the most significantly clustered data at a certain distance. Then use the graphing function to display the data on the map.

Use a spatial join of the Call_for_Service layer and the 200 foot grid layer. Then run a defintion Query to select only the grinds with at least 1 call. Run the Spatial Autocorrelation tool at 50 foot increments to find the distance that can reject the Null Hypothesis.

Results:
Below is the map showing the results from the Average nearest neighbor tool from false alarm calls made in February 2007. It shows that there is not significant clustering.

Next is the map showing the results from running the high/low clustering tool at a distance and of 200 feet.

Below is the map of the Multi-Distance Spatial Cluster Analysis tool results with an inset graph showing that the most significant clustering of calls occurs at 900 feet.

Finally we can see the results of the Spatial Autocorrelation tool that rejects the null hypothesis that there is any clustering of calls occurring.

Application & Reflection:

Problem Description: Using the tools developed in this exercise one can start to break down spatial data for analysis. If given a map of customers, a company could use these tools to find trending in areas for better marketing or to find emerging markets. These types of tools could be very important to companies looking to maximize their marketing campaigns and research. Also it could help in planning when looking at growth and new site developments. If trending were found in certain areas it may establish a need for a new plant or distribution site. Data Needed: We would need map with the location of customers on it. Analysis Procedure: We would need to take the map with customer locations on it and run the Spatial Statistics tools on it to get our z scores and confidence levels to show if there is any clustering of

customers coming from one area. Once that information is known a marketing plan can be made to target specific areas based on these results.