Assessing the association between maps is a basic task in GIS. It not only helps to discover the consistency between mapped distributions and to reveal the relationship between various spatial patterns, but also implies attribution. Although literatures are rich in the map association measures, their applications are still tricky because of the complexity in spatial data. In this study, we investigate nine representative measures of map association, where each map could be in three scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal and quantitative (interval or ratio). The strengths and limitations of individual methods are addressed and compared, which include their applicability to different measurement scales, interpretability, and potential applications in complex scenarios. The theoretical comparisons are then demonstrated by two empirical examples. These works provide a rule of thumb for the selection of map association measures for practical purposes.

中文翻译：

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地图关联测度的理论和经验比较评估

评估地图之间的关联是GIS中的一项基本任务。它不仅有助于发现映射分布之间的一致性并揭示各种空间模式之间的关系，而且还暗示了归因。尽管文献中有大量的地图关联度量，但是由于空间数据的复杂性，它们的应用仍然很棘手。在这项研究中，我们调查了九种代表性的地图关联度量，其中每张地图可能采用三种度量标准：名义，有序和定量（间隔或比率）。解决并比较了每种方法的优点和局限性，包括它们对不同度量标准的适用性，可解释性以及在复杂场景中的潜在应用。然后通过两个经验示例来证明理论比较。