Reconstruction and normalization of LISA for spatial analysis

by Yanguang Chen

The local indicators of spatial association (LISA) are important measures for spatial autocorrelation analysis. However, there is an inadvertent fault in the mathematical processes of deriving LISA in literature so that the local Moran and Geary indicators do not satisfy the second basic requirement for LISA: the sum of the local indicators is proportional to a global indicator. This paper aims at reconstructing the calculation formulae of the local Moran indexes and Geary coefficients through mathematical derivation and empirical evidence. Two sets of LISAs were clarified by new mathematical reasoning. One set of LISAs is based on non-normalized weights and non-centralized variable (MI1 and GC1), and the other set is based on row normalized weights and standardized variable (MI2 and GC2). The results show that the first set of LISAs satisfy the above-mentioned second requirement, but the second the set cannot. Then, the third set of LISA was proposed and can be treated as canonical forms (MI3 and GC3). This set of LISAs satisfies the second requirement. The observational data of city population and traffic mileage in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China were employed to verify the theoretical results. This study helps to clarify the misunderstandings about LISAs in the field of geospatial analysis.