Spatial analysis or
spatial statistics includes any of the formal
techniques which study entities using their
topological,
geometric, or
geographic properties. Spatial analysis includes a variety of techniques, many still in their early development, using different analytic approaches and applied in fields as diverse as
astronomy, with its studies of the placement of galaxies in the
cosmos, to chip fabrication engineering, with its use of "place and route"
algorithms to build complex wiring structures. In a more restricted sense, spatial analysis is the technique applied to structures at the human scale, most notably in the analysis of
geographic data.