ABSTRACT
This chapter overviews various types of spatial models, and articulates the relationship between spatial analysis and spatial modelling. Next, the chapter compares various types of spatial modelling and identifies their main distinctions. How to construct models forms the next focus of this chapter. All the issues involved in model development are comprehensively elaborated. A few critical steps in the process central to the success of spatial modelling are then explored at length. This chapter also critically evaluates various methods by which geographic information system can be integrated with spatial modelling, especially the pros and cons of each method of integration. This assessment is supplemented with three special types of spatial modelling, namely spatial logistic regression modelling, land use regression modelling, and hydrologic modelling towards the end of the chapter. Three case studies are presented to demonstrate the ins and outs of spatial modelling applied to addressing diverse environmental problems.
