Ganapati P. Patil

One of our greatest current challenges is the preservation and remediation of ecosystem integrity. This requires monitoring and assessment over large geographic areas, repeatedly over time, and cannot be practically fulfilled by field measurements alone. Remotely sensed imagery plays a crucial role by its ability to monitor large spatially continuous areas. This technology increasingly provides extensive spatial-temporal data; however, the challenge is to extract meaningful environmental information from such extensive data. This book presents a new method for assessing spatial pattern in raster land cover maps based on satellite imagery in a way that incorporates multiple pixel resolutions. This is combined with more conventional single-resolution measurements of spatial pattern and simple non-spatial land cover proportions to assess predictability of both surface water quality and ecological integrity within watersheds of the state of Pennsylvania (USA).

One of our greatest current challenges is the preservation and remediation of ecosystem integrity. This requires monitoring and assessment over large geographic areas, repeatedly over time, and cannot be practically fulfilled by field measurements alone. Remotely sensed imagery plays a crucial role by its ability to monitor large spatially continuous areas. This technology increasingly provides extensive spatial-temporal data; however, the challenge is to extract meaningful environmental information from such extensive data. This book presents a new method for assessing spatial pattern in raster land cover maps based on satellite imagery in a way that incorporates multiple pixel resolutions. This is combined with more conventional single-resolution measurements of spatial pattern and simple non-spatial land cover proportions to assess predictability of both surface water quality and ecological integrity within watersheds of the state of Pennsylvania (USA).

Statistical Geoinformatics for Human Environment Interface presents two paradigms for studying both space and interface with regard to human/environment: localization and multiple indicators. The first approach localizes thematic targets by treating space as a pattern of vicinities, with the pattern being a square grid and the placement of vicinities centrically referenced. The second approach explores human/environment interface as an abstraction through indicators, neutralizing the common conundrum of how to reconcile disparate spatial structures such as points, lines, and polygons. These paired paradigms enable: The capacity to cope with complexity Systematic surveillanceVisualization and communication Preliminary prioritizationCoupling of GIS and statistical softwareAvenues for automationIllustrating the interdisciplinary nature of geoinformatics, this book offers a novel approach to the spatial analysis of human influences and environmental resources. It includes practical strategies for statistical and spatial analysis.

This monograph is multivariate, multi-perspective and multipurpose. We intend to be innovatively integrative through statistical synthesis. Innovation requires capacity to operate in ways that are not ordinary, which means that conventional computations and generic graphics will not meet the needs of an adaptive approach. Flexible formulation and special schematics are essential elements that must be manageable and economical.

This book provides axioms of partial order and some basic material, for example consequences of “criss-crossing” of data profiles, the role of aggregations of the indicators and the powerful method of formal concept analysis. The interested reader will learn how to apply fuzzy methods in partial order analysis and what ‘antagonistic indicator’ means.

Sampling consists of selection, acquisition, and quantification of a part of the population. While selection and acquisition apply to physical sampling units of the population, quantification pertains only to the variable of interest, which is a particular characteristic of the sampling units. A sampling procedure is expected to provide a sample that is representative with respect to some specified criteria. Composite sampling, under idealized conditions, incurs no loss of information for estimating the population means. But an important limitation to the method has been the loss of information on individual sample values, such as, the extremely large value. In many of the situations where individual sample values are of interest or concern, composite sampling methods can be suitably modified to retrieve the information on individual sample values that may be lost due to compositing. This book presents statistical solutions to issues that arise in the context of applications of composite sampling.

Statistical Geoinformatics for Human Environment Interface presents two paradigms for studying both space and interface with regard to human/environment: localization and multiple indicators. The first approach localizes thematic targets by treating space as a pattern of vicinities, with the pattern being a square grid and the placement of vicinities centrically referenced. The second approach explores human/environment interface as an abstraction through indicators, neutralizing the common conundrum of how to reconcile disparate spatial structures such as points, lines, and polygons. These paired paradigms enable: The capacity to cope with complexity Systematic surveillanceVisualization and communication Preliminary prioritizationCoupling of GIS and statistical softwareAvenues for automationIllustrating the interdisciplinary nature of geoinformatics, this book offers a novel approach to the spatial analysis of human influences and environmental resources. It includes practical strategies for statistical and spatial analysis.

This monograph is multivariate, multi-perspective and multipurpose. We intend to be innovatively integrative through statistical synthesis. Innovation requires capacity to operate in ways that are not ordinary, which means that conventional computations and generic graphics will not meet the needs of an adaptive approach. Flexible formulation and special schematics are essential elements that must be manageable and economical.

This book provides axioms of partial order and some basic material, for example consequences of “criss-crossing” of data profiles, the role of aggregations of the indicators and the powerful method of formal concept analysis. The interested reader will learn how to apply fuzzy methods in partial order analysis and what ‘antagonistic indicator’ means.

Sampling consists of selection, acquisition, and quantification of a part of the population. While selection and acquisition apply to physical sampling units of the population, quantification pertains only to the variable of interest, which is a particular characteristic of the sampling units. A sampling procedure is expected to provide a sample that is representative with respect to some specified criteria. Composite sampling, under idealized conditions, incurs no loss of information for estimating the population means. But an important limitation to the method has been the loss of information on individual sample values, such as, the extremely large value. In many of the situations where individual sample values are of interest or concern, composite sampling methods can be suitably modified to retrieve the information on individual sample values that may be lost due to compositing. This book presents statistical solutions to issues that arise in the context of applications of composite sampling.

We offer here a non-conventional approach to muhivariate ima- structured data for which the basis is well tested but the analytical ramifi­ cations are still unfolding. Although we do not formally pursue them, there are several parallels with the nature of neural networks. We employ a systematic set of statistical heuristics for modeling multivariate image data in a quasi-perceptual manner. When the human eye perceives a scene, the elements of the scene are segregated heuristically into compo­ nents according to similarity and dissimilarity, and then the relationships among the components are interpreted. Similarly, we segregate or seg­ ment the scene into hierarchically organized components that are subject to subsequent statistical analysis in many modes for interpretive purposes. We refer to the segregated scene segments as patterns, since they provide a basis for perception of pattern. Since they are also hierarchically organ­ ized, we refer to them further as polypatterns. This leads us to our acro­ nym of Progressively Segmented Image Modeling As Poly-Patterns (PSIMAPP). Likewise, we formalize our approach in terms of pattern processes and segmentation sequences. In alignment with the terminology of image analysis, we refer to our multivariate measures as being signal bands.

We offer here a non-conventional approach to muhivariate ima- structured data for which the basis is well tested but the analytical ramifi­ cations are still unfolding. Although we do not formally pursue them, there are several parallels with the nature of neural networks. We employ a systematic set of statistical heuristics for modeling multivariate image data in a quasi-perceptual manner. When the human eye perceives a scene, the elements of the scene are segregated heuristically into compo­ nents according to similarity and dissimilarity, and then the relationships among the components are interpreted. Similarly, we segregate or seg­ ment the scene into hierarchically organized components that are subject to subsequent statistical analysis in many modes for interpretive purposes. We refer to the segregated scene segments as patterns, since they provide a basis for perception of pattern. Since they are also hierarchically organ­ ized, we refer to them further as polypatterns. This leads us to our acro­ nym of Progressively Segmented Image Modeling As Poly-Patterns (PSIMAPP). Likewise, we formalize our approach in terms of pattern processes and segmentation sequences. In alignment with the terminology of image analysis, we refer to our multivariate measures as being signal bands.