Why is spatial data considered special?

Spatial data is considered special primarily because geographic data tends to be spatially dependent. This means that the values observed at one location can be influenced by values at neighboring locations, creating a relationship that is often governed by geographic context. For instance, in fields such as environmental science, socioeconomics, or urban planning, understanding the distribution and interaction of geographic features is crucial to making accurate analyses and decisions. This dependence implies that the arrangement of data points has significant relevance, and analyzing them without considering their spatial context may lead to inaccurate conclusions.

Other aspects of spatial data, such as its complexity and the need for specialized methods to analyze it, further underscore its uniqueness. The spatial relationships inherent in this type of data are fundamentally different from that of non-spatial data, which generally does not have such dependencies.