Cellular Automata Based Method for Territories Stratification in Geographic Information Systems

The stratification of territories is a powerful tool for the analysis and trend in health studies. An important element in health studies is the relationship established between geographical location and health indicators in correspondence with the first law of Geography. From this approach, the formation of compact strata allows the identification of local and global trends. This paper presents method for territories stratification in Geographic Information Systems. A clustering algorithm based on cellular automata theory is proposed to incorporate the treatment to heterogeneity and spatial dependence. The results obtained from the evaluation of validation indices demonstrates the utility and applicability of the proposal.