Spatial Analysis and GIS: A Primer

Introduction Understanding the spatial distribution of data from phenomena that occur in space constitute today a great challenge to the elucidation of central questions in many areas of knowledge, be it in health, in environment, in geology, in agronomy, among many others. Such studies are becoming more and more common, due to the availability of low cost Geographic Information System (GIS) with user-friendly interfaces. These systems allow the spatial visualization of variables such as individual populations, quality of life indexes or company sales in a region using maps. To achieve that it is enough to have a database and a geographic base (like a map of the municipalities), and the GIS is capable of presenting a colored map that allows the visualization of the spatial pattern of the phenomenon. Besides the visual perception of the spatial distribution of the phenomenon, it is very useful to translate the existing patterns into objective and measurable considerations, like in th