Gwmodel: An R package for exploring spatial heterogeneity using geographically weighted models

Spatial statistics is a growing discipline providing important analytical techniques in a wide range of disciplines in the natural and social sciences. in the r package gw model,we present techniques from a particular branch of spatial statistics,termed geographically weighted (gw) models. gw models suit situations when data are not described well by some global model,but where there are spatial regions where a suitably localized calibration provides a better description. the approach uses a moving window weighting technique,where localized models are found at target locations. outputs are mapped to provide a useful exploratory tool into the nature of the data spatial heterogeneity. currently,gw model includes functions for: gw summary statistics,gw principal components analysis,gw regression,and gw discriminant analysis; some of which are provided in basic and robust forms.