Help
spatial pattern — English
The way objects or conditions or phenomena are distributed in in a specific region or area on the Earth’s surface. When geographers have plotted the areas or the points (places) of occurrence, a certain pattern is immediately recognisable to the trained eye. A graphic representation of a spatial distribution pattern reveals a multitude of information about the subject being investigated. The occurrences might be clustered together in one part of the study area, they might be concentrated in a few specific locations within the area or might be randomly distributed all over the entire area, or be arranged along a discernible line such as a river, road or railwayline, and so forth. The spatial arrangement of a phenomenon is never a mere coincidence; there are reasons why they occur in such a specific arrangement. By studying the spatial pattern of the occurrence of a phenomenon, geographers can glean an amazing amount of information about the object under investigation. To a geographer, one map might say much more about the phenomenon than many pages of text. In order to discern spatial patterns, maps are geographers’ most important tool. (See “spatial distribution”.)
