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Alleviating the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem within Probe‐Based Geospatial Analyses
Author(s) -
Butkiewicz Thomas,
Meentemeyer Ross K.,
Shoemaker Douglas A.,
Chang Remco,
Wartell Zachary,
Ribarsky William
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
computer graphics forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.578
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1467-8659
pISSN - 0167-7055
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8659.2009.01707.x
Subject(s) - geospatial analysis , computer science , outlier , interface (matter) , user interface , data mining , unit (ring theory) , data science , human–computer interaction , artificial intelligence , geography , cartography , mathematics , mathematics education , bubble , maximum bubble pressure method , parallel computing , operating system
We present a probe‐based interface for the exploration of the results of a geospatial simulation of urban growth. Because our interface allows the user great freedom in how they choose to define regions‐of‐interest to examine and compare, the classic geospatial analytic issue known as the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) quickly arises. The user may delineate regions with unseen differences that can affect the fairness of the comparisons made between them. To alleviate this problem, our interface first alerts the user if it detects any potential unfairness between regions when they are selected for comparison. It then presents the dimensions with potential problematic outliers to the user for evaluation. Finally, it provides a number of semi‐automated tools to assist the user in correcting their regions' boundaries to minimize the inequalities they feel could significantly impact their comparisons.