Qualitative Spatial and Temporal Reasoning

Features modern research and methodology on the spread of infectious diseases and showcases a broad range of multi-disciplinary and state-of-the-art techniques on geo-simulation, geo-visualization, remote sensing, metapopulation modeling, cloud computing, and pattern analysis Given the ongoing risk of infectious diseases worldwide, it is crucial to develop appropriate analysis methods, models, and tools to assess and predict the spread of disease and evaluate the risk. Analyzing and Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Infectious Diseases features mathematical and spatial modeling approaches that integrate applications from various fields such as geo-computation and simulation, spatial analytics, mathematics, statistics, epidemiology, and health policy. In addition, the book captures the latest advances in the use of geographic information system (GIS), global positioning system (GPS), and other location-based technologies in the spatial and temporal study of infectious diseases. Highlighting the current practices and methodology via various infectious disease studies, Analyzing and Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Infectious Diseases features: Approaches to better use infectious disease data collected from various sources for analysis and modeling purposes Examples of disease spreading dynamics, including West Nile virus, bird flu, Lyme disease, pandemic influenza (H1N1), and schistosomiasis Modern techniques such as Smartphone use in spatio-temporal usage data, cloud computing-enabled cluster detection, and communicable disease geo-simulation based on human mobility An overview of different mathematical, statistical, spatial modeling, and geo-simulation techniques Analyzing and Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Infectious Diseases is an excellent resource for researchers and scientists who use, manage, or analyze infectious disease data, need to learn various traditional and advanced analytical methods and modeling techniques, and become aware of different issues and challenges related to infectious disease modeling and simulation. The book is also a useful textbook and/or supplement for upper-undergraduate and graduate-level courses in bioinformatics, biostatistics, public health and policy, and epidemiology.

In the spatial or spatio-temporal context, specifying the correct covariance function is fundamental to obtain efficient predictions, and to understand the underlying physical process of interest. This book focuses on covariance and variogram functions, their role in prediction, and appropriate choice of these functions in applications. Both recent and more established methods are illustrated to assess many common assumptions on these functions, such as, isotropy, separability, symmetry, and intrinsic correlation. After an extensive introduction to spatial methodology, the book details the effects of common covariance assumptions and addresses methods to assess the appropriateness of such assumptions for various data structures. Key features: An extensive introduction to spatial methodology including a survey of spatial covariance functions and their use in spatial prediction (kriging) is given. Explores methodology for assessing the appropriateness of assumptions on covariance functions in the spatial, spatio-temporal, multivariate spatial, and point pattern settings. Provides illustrations of all methods based on data and simulation experiments to demonstrate all methodology and guide to proper usage of all methods. Presents a brief survey of spatial and spatio-temporal models, highlighting the Gaussian case and the binary data setting, along with the different methodologies for estimation and model fitting for these two data structures. Discusses models that allow for anisotropic and nonseparable behaviour in covariance functions in the spatial, spatio-temporal and multivariate settings. Gives an introduction to point pattern models, including testing for randomness, and fitting regular and clustered point patterns. The importance and assessment of isotropy of point patterns is detailed. Statisticians, researchers, and data analysts working with spatial and space-time data will benefit from this book as well as will graduate students with a background in basic statistics following courses in engineering, quantitative ecology or atmospheric science.

A ground-up approach to explaining dynamic spatial modelling for an interdisciplinary audience. Across broad areas of the environmental and social sciences, simulation models are an important way to study systems inaccessible to scientific experimental and observational methods, and also an essential complement to those more conventional approaches. The contemporary research literature is teeming with abstract simulation models whose presentation is mathematically demanding and requires a high level of knowledge of quantitative and computational methods and approaches. Furthermore, simulation models designed to represent specific systems and phenomena are often complicated, and, as a result, difficult to reconstruct from their descriptions in the literature. This book aims to provide a practical and accessible account of dynamic spatial modelling, while also equipping readers with a sound conceptual foundation in the subject, and a useful introduction to the wide-ranging literature. Spatial Simulation: Exploring Pattern and Process is organised around the idea that a small number of spatial processes underlie the wide variety of dynamic spatial models. Its central focus on three ‘building-blocks’ of dynamic spatial models – forces of attraction and segregation, individual mobile entities, and processes of spread – guides the reader to an understanding of the basis of many of the complicated models found in the research literature. The three building block models are presented in their simplest form and are progressively elaborated and related to real world process that can be represented using them. Introductory chapters cover essential background topics, particularly the relationships between pattern, process and spatiotemporal scale. Additional chapters consider how time and space can be represented in more complicated models, and methods for the analysis and evaluation of models. Finally, the three building block models are woven together in a more elaborate example to show how a complicated model can be assembled from relatively simple components. To aid understanding, more than 50 specific models described in the book are available online at patternandprocess.org for exploration in the freely available Netlogo platform. This book encourages readers to develop intuition for the abstract types of model that are likely to be appropriate for application in any specific context. Spatial Simulation: Exploring Pattern and Process will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in environmental, social, ecological and geographical disciplines. Researchers and professionals who require a non-specialist introduction will also find this book an invaluable guide to dynamic spatial simulation.

Fuzzy sets were for a long time not accepted by the AI community. Now they have become highly evolved and their techniques are well established. This book will teach the reader how to construct a fuzzy expert system to solve real-world problems. After a general discussion of expert systems, the basic fuzzy math required is presented first, requiring little more math background than high-school algebra. This book will fill a void in the market because although there are many books on expert systems, none devote more than a few pages to the notion of fuzzy sets and their applications in this domain. Therefore their use in this book is timely and should be well received. The book is designed as a text and has ample problems with solutions, a solutions manual and an accompanying program on our ftp site. Coverage is accessible to practitioners and academic readers alike.

Following the events of 9/11 and in the current world climate, there is increasing concern of the impact of potential bioterrorism attacks. Spatial surveillance systems are used to detect changes in public health data, and alert us to possible outbreaks of disease, either from natural resources or from bioterrorism attacks. Statistical methods play a key role in spatial surveillance, as they are used to identify changes in data, and build models of that data in order to make predictions about future activity. This book is the first to provide an overview of all the current key methods in spatial surveillance, and present them in an accessible form, suitable for the public health professional. It features an abundance of examples using real data, highlighting the practical application of the methodology. It is edited and authored by leading researchers and practitioners in spatial surveillance methods. Provides an overview of the current key methods in spatial surveillance of public health data. Includes coverage of both single and multiple disease surveillance. Covers all of the key topics, including syndromic surveillance, spatial cluster detection, and Bayesian data mining.

Spatial point processes are mathematical models used to describe and analyse the geometrical structure of patterns formed by objects that are irregularly or randomly distributed in one-, two- or three-dimensional space. Examples include locations of trees in a forest, blood particles on a glass plate, galaxies in the universe, and particle centres in samples of material. Numerous aspects of the nature of a specific spatial point pattern may be described using the appropriate statistical methods. Statistical Analysis and Modelling of Spatial Point Patterns provides a practical guide to the use of these specialised methods. The application-oriented approach helps demonstrate the benefits of this increasingly popular branch of statistics to a broad audience. The book: Provides an introduction to spatial point patterns for researchers across numerous areas of application Adopts an extremely accessible style, allowing the non-statistician complete understanding Describes the process of extracting knowledge from the data, emphasising the marked point process Demonstrates the analysis of complex datasets, using applied examples from areas including biology, forestry, and materials science Features a supplementary website containing example datasets. Statistical Analysis and Modelling of Spatial Point Patterns is ideally suited for researchers in the many areas of application, including environmental statistics, ecology, physics, materials science, geostatistics, and biology. It is also suitable for students of statistics, mathematics, computer science, biology and geoinformatics.

In the real world, there are numerous and various events that occur on and alongside networks, including the occurrence of traffic accidents on highways, the location of stores alongside roads, the incidence of crime on streets and the contamination along rivers. In order to carry out analyses of those events, the researcher needs to be familiar with a range of specific techniques. Spatial Analysis Along Networks provides a practical guide to the necessary statistical techniques and their computational implementation. Each chapter illustrates a specific technique, from Stochastic Point Processes on a Network and Network Voronoi Diagrams, to Network K-function and Point Density Estimation Methods, and the Network Huff Model. The authors also discuss and illustrate the undertaking of the statistical tests described in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment as well as demonstrating the user-friendly free software package SANET. Spatial Analysis Along Networks: Presents a much-needed practical guide to statistical spatial analysis of events on and alongside a network, in a logical, user-friendly order. Introduces the preliminary methods involved, before detailing the advanced, computational methods, enabling the readers a complete understanding of the advanced topics. Dedicates a separate chapter to each of the major techniques involved. Demonstrates the practicalities of undertaking the tests described in the book, using a GIS. Is supported by a supplementary website, providing readers with a link to the free software package SANET, so they can execute the statistical methods described in the book. Students and researchers studying spatial statistics, spatial analysis, geography, GIS, OR, traffic accident analysis, criminology, retail marketing, facility management and ecology will benefit from this book.

Spatio-temporal Approaches presents a well-built set of concepts, methods and approaches, in order to represent and understand the evolution of social and environmental phenomena within the space. It is basedon examples in human geography and archeology (which will enable us to explore questions regarding various temporalities) and tackles social and environmental phenomena. Chapter 1 discusses how to apprehend change: objects, attributes, relations, processes. Chapter 2 introduces multiple points of view about modeling and the authors try to shed a new light on the different, but complementary approaches of geomaticians and thematicians. Chapter 3 is devoted to the construction of spatio-temporal indicators, to various measurements of the change, while highlighting the advantage of an approach crossing several points of view, in order to understand the phenomenon at hand. Chapter 4 presents different categories of simulation model in line with complexity sciences. These models rely notably on the concepts of emergence and self-organization and allow us to highlight the roles of interaction within change. Chapter 5 provides ideas on research concerning the various construction approaches of hybrid objects and model couplings.

Spatial data analysis is a fast growing area and Voronoi diagrams provide a means of naturally partitioning space into subregions to facilitate spatial data manipulation, modelling of spatial structures, pattern recognition and locational optimization. With such versatility, the Voronoi diagram and its relative, the Delaunay triangulation, provide valuable tools for the analysis of spatial data. This is a rapidly growing research area and in this fully updated second edition the authors provide an up-to-date and comprehensive unification of all the previous literature on the subject of Voronoi diagrams. Features: * Expands on the highly acclaimed first edition * Provides an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the existing literature on Voronoi diagrams * Includes a useful compendium of applications * Contains an extensive bibliography A wide range of applications is discussed, enabling this book to serve as an important reference volume on this topic. The text will appeal to students and researchers studying spatial data in a number of areas, in particular, applied probability, computational geometry, and Geographic Information Science (GIS). This book will appeal equally to those whose interests in Voronoi diagrams are theoretical, practical or both.

The Wiley-Interscience Paperback Series consists of selected books that have been made more accessible to consumers in an effort to increase global appeal and general circulation. With these new unabridged softcover volumes, Wiley hopes to extend the lives of these works by making them available to future generations of statisticians, mathematicians, and scientists. «Books such as this that bring together, clarify, and summarize recent research can lead to a great increase of interest in the area. . . . a major achievement in describing many aspects of spatial data and discussing, with examples, different methods of analysis.» –Royal Statistical Society «Dr. Ripley’s book is an excellent survey of the spatial statistical methodology. It is very well illustrated with examples [that] give a clear view of the wide scope of the subject, the way in which techniques often have to be tailored to particular applications, and the different sorts of spatial data that arise.» –The Bulletin of the London Mathematics Society Spatial Statistics provides a comprehensive guide to the analysis of spatial data. Each chapter covers a particular data format and the associated class of problems, introducing theory, giving computational suggestions, and providing examples. Methods are illustrated by computer-drawn figures. The book serves as an introduction to this rapidly growing research area for mathematicians and statisticians, and as a reference to new computer methods for researchers in ecology, geology, archaeology, and the earth sciences.