Outlier Detection, Spatial

Spatial outliers or abnormal spatial patterns are those spatial objects whose non-spatial attribute values are markedly different from those of their spatial neighbors. The identification of spatial outliers can be used to reveal hidden but valuable knowledge in many applications. For example, it can help locate extreme meteorological events such as tornadoes and hurricanes, identify aberrant genes or tumor cells, discover highway traffic congestion points, pinpoint military targets in satellite images, determine possible locations of oil reservoirs, and detect water pollution incidents.