New Software Helps Reveal Patterns in Space and Time

ASU News
(09/10/12) Barbara Trapido-Lurie

Researchers at Arizona State University's GeoDa Center for Geographical Analysis & Computation say they have made significant enhancements to their OpenGeoDa software. OpenGeoDa is an open source program that offers a user-friendly interface to implement techniques for exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial modeling. Version 1.2.0 facilitates space-time analysis, with maps and charts that enable users to track changes in spatial patterns over time. "For example, a series of maps could plot variations in educational achievement by school district, for a series of years," says Arizona State professor Luc Anselin. "An individual map would show clusters of high and low achievement; but adding the dimension of time makes it possible to assess the effect of a policy intervention, by comparing both achievement levels and spatial clusters, before and after the intervention." OpenGeoDa version 1.2.0 also can now provide a real-time link between maps, graphs, and statistical summaries of the same data set. Anselin notes the center's signature software has more than 75,000 users around the world and is freely downloadable. He says OpenGeoDa, first released in 2003, has been used to study everything from health care access and economic development to crime clusters.

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https://asunews.asu.edu/20120911_opengeoda