
8
Spacing
This ch apter discusses summary statistics based on the spacing between points in a point pattern.
8.1 Introduction
Statistics such as Ripley’s K-function, which m easure the spatial correlation in a point process, are
the most popular tools for assessing depe ndence. However, correlation is only a simple summary of
dependence, and is blind to some aspects of dependence, as we saw in Chapter 7.
Additional information about a point pattern c an often be revealed by measuring spacings or
shortest distances in the pattern, such as the ‘nearest-neighbour’ distance from each data point to
the nearest other data point. In a forestry survey, it