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spatial variation — English
The occurrence of phenomena differs from place to place on the Earth’s surface, and places on Earth differ from one another. Simply put: different things occur in different places, and certain things occur in some places, but not in others. Geographers study the occurrence of phenomena to detect the patterns according to which they occur. In order to detect the spatial variation patterns, maps are drawn and the spatial locations of the phenomena being studied are indicated on the maps. On these graphic representations, the spatial variation patterns are easily identifiable. From such spatial variation patterns geographers can deduce a variety of information, causal relationships might be detected and spatial interaction patterns (see “spatial distribution” and “spatial interaction”) might be explained. (See “geodiversity”, “space-in-time perspective”, “spatial data” and “spatial pattern”.)
