Spatial Concept Perspectives

We have gathered ~300 excerpts from published works about fundamental spatial concept terms. These have been cross-referenced with the concept lexicon appearing on the left. Those terms were drawn from the U.S.National Science Education Standards (NSES 1996) for topic areas B - Physical Science, C - Life Science, D - Earth and Space Science, as well as from the 1994 U.S. Geography Teaching Standards for grades 9-12. Those standards can be browsed here.

spatial concept terms

disciplinary perspectives on "spatial heterogeneity"

spatial heterogeneity

The geographic world is fundamentally heterogeneous, leading to first-order effects and non-stationarity, measurable via landscape metrics (local indicators), place-based analysis, and geographically weighted analysis. "The Earth's surface displays almost incredible variety, from the landscapes of the Tibetan plateau to the deserts of Australia and the urban complexity of London or Tokyo. Nowhere can be reasonably described as an average place and it is difficult to imagine any subset of the Earth's surface being a representative sample of the whole.

Geography

de Smith, et al. (2008)

Geospatial Analysis: A comprehensive guide to principles, techniques, and software tools

spatial heterogeneity

The implications of spatial variability. The geographic world is fundamentally heterogeneous. First-order effects, non-stationarity, and uncontrolled variance are subsidiary concepts

Social Science

Janelle and Goodchild (2011)

Concepts, Principles, Tools, and Challenges in Spatially Integrated Social Science