Comparison of thematic maps using symbolic entropy

Comparison of thematic maps is an important task in a number of disciplines. Map comparison has traditionally been conducted using cell-by-cell agreement indicators, such as the Kappa measure. More recently, other methods have been proposed that take into account not only spatially coincident cells...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Ruiz Marín, Manuel, López Hernández, Fernando Antonio, Páez, Antonio
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión enviada para evaluación y publicación
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena(UPCT)
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital UPCT
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.upct.es:10317/3388
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10317/3388
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Thematic maps
Map comparison
Qualitative variables
Spatial association
Symbolic entropy
Hypothesis tests
Descrição
Resumo:Comparison of thematic maps is an important task in a number of disciplines. Map comparison has traditionally been conducted using cell-by-cell agreement indicators, such as the Kappa measure. More recently, other methods have been proposed that take into account not only spatially coincident cells in two maps, but also their surroundings or the spatial structure of their differences. The objective of this paper is to propose a framework for map comparison that considers 1) the patterns of spatial association in two maps, in other words, the map elements in their surroundings; 2) the equivalence of those patterns; and 3) the independence of patterns between maps. Two new statistics for the spatial analysis of qualitative data are introduced. These statistics are based on the symbolic entropy of the maps, and function as measures of map compositional equivalence and independence. As well, all inferential elements to conduct hypothesis testing are developed. The framework is illustrated using real and synthetic maps.