Evaluation of the similarity between spatial tessellations

摘要

Spatial tessellation is one of the most essential spatial structures in geography. It represents various geographical elements such as vegetation patterns, watersheds, administrative units, and electoral districts. Spatial tessellations defined in the same region are often closely related to each other. Soil and vegetation play a critical role in land-cover patterns, while electoral districts are defined on the basis of administrative units and census tracts. A new method for evaluating the similarity between spatial tessellations is proposed. The method describes and analyzes the relationship between spatial tessellations. Agreement indices of spatial tessellations are introduced at both local and global scales. These indices provide a basis for describing a spatial tessellation by a set of other spatial tessellations. The proposed method is applied to the analysis of the relationship between the administrative systems and topography in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The technical soundness of the method is discussed along with empirical findings.