Spatial characteristics and comparisons of interaction and median clustering models

Abstract

Cluster analysis has been pursued from a number of directions for identifying interesting relationships and patterns in spatial information. A major emphasis is currently on the development and refinement of optimization-based clustering models for the purpose of exploring spatially referenced data. Within this context, two basic methods exist for identifying clusters that are most similar. An interesting feature of these two approaches is that one method approximates the relationships inherent in the other method. This is significant given that the approximation approach is invariably utilized for cluster detection in spatial and aspatial analysis. A number of spatial applications are investigated which highlight the differences in clusters produced by each model. This is an important contribution because the differences are in fact quite significant, yet these contrasts are not widely known or acknowledged.