Evaluating Local Non-Stationarity when Considering the Spatial Variation of Large-scale Autocorrelation

Multi‐scale effects of spatial autocorrelation may be present in datasets. Given the importance of detecting local non‐stationarity in many theoretical as well as applied studies, it is necessary to “remove” the impact of large‐scale autocorrelation before common techniques for local pattern analysis are applied. It is proposed in this paper to employ the regionalized range to define spatially varying sub‐regions within which the impact of large‐scale autocorrelation is minimized and the local patterns can be investigated. A case study is conducted on crime data to detect crime hot spots and cold spots in San Antonio, Texas. The results confirm the necessity of treating the non‐stationarity of large‐scale spatial autocorrelation prior to any action aiming at detecting local autocorrelation.