PrintGeospatial thinking is the essence of designing GIS functionality. Geospatial thinking is spatial thinking related to the earth. The following geospatial thinking process is simply offered as a structure to make sure that key concepts are not overlooked. Nothing here is likely new to the skilled geospatial thinker, but it is purely a reminder of the actions that can help the designer think about geospatial problems.
Action 1: Identify the entity or event the system is being designed to address or manipulate. This entity can be natural and human phenomena relative to the problem.
Action 2: Think about the entity or event in the space contexts. The definition of the spatial presence of an entity is the prerequisite for spatial thinking. The spatial context is critical because it is the space the entity is in that ultimately determines its interpretation. There are three spatial contexts within which we can make the data-to-information transition. These are:
- behavioral space
- physical space
- cognitive space
In all cases, space provides an interpretive context that gives meaning.
Action 3: Place the phenomena in the context of the earth. When making sense about the space (Gershmehl and Gershmehl, 2006) the spatial thinker first asks the fundamental spatial questions:
- Where is this place?
- What is at this place?
- How is this place linked to other places?
Action 4: Examine the qualities of the objects or events. The spatial thinking then proceeds to examine the places by asking the following questions:
- How are places similar or different?
- What effect(s) does a feature have on nearby areas?
- What nearby places are similar to each other and can be grouped together?
- Where does this place fit in a hierarchy of nested areas?
- Is the change between places abrupt, gradual, or irregular?
- What distant places have similar situations and therefore may have similar conditions?
- Are there clusters, strings, rings, waves, other non-random arrangements of features?
- Do features tend to occur together (have similar spatial patterns)?
Return to Action 2 if you have not explored all of the space contexts. Note the qualities for each space.
Action 5: Recalling the results of Action 4, examine the space-time relationship between the objects and/or event. Last, the comparisons are placed into the context of space and time. Spatial thinking goes beyond a simple identification of locations. It involves comparing locations, considering the influence of nearby features, grouping regions and hierarchies, and identifying distant places that have similar conditions. It is also the consideration of change, movement and diffusion through time and place. This is spatiotemporal thinking which asks the questions:
- How do spatial features change through time?
- How do conditions change at a place over time?
- What is the change in position of something over time?
- What is the change in extent of something over time?
- Where are places that do not seem to follow an observed “rule”?
Note the time-space relationships.