[R-sig-Geo] Differences Between sp and spatstat?

[Ben Madin]

I'm not an expert in this, but one of the important aspects of sp is that it provides a set of classes for consistently handling spatial data. Other packages (such as spatstat) provide more specific analytic capacity. Even if the more specific packages use their own classes, there is now at least a 'common' data structure with which you can import data to R and make it available to other packages.

In a nutshell, you will probably find that many other spatial packages require sp.

I would suggest looking at http://cran.r-project.org/web/views/Spatial.html

cheers

Ben


On 26/02/2011, at 12:10 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:

>  I'm brand-new to R and my specific interest is spatial statistics and the
> integration of R and GRASS. I just bought a copy of "Applied Spatial
> Analysis with R" and have started reading it.
> 
>  I've used GRASS on linux since the mid-1990s (and Microsoft-based GIS
> since the mid-1980s) and statistics in my academic and real-world work since
> the the early 1970s, so my ignorance is specific to R and spatial statistics
> with it. I'm a stream ecologist/fluvial geomorphologist, run my own
> consultancy, and focus on the natural resource industries.
> 
>  The book references the sp package and I find another called spatstat.
> What are the differences between them?
> 
>  I've also just signed up to subscribe to the R-help mail list because I
> need to learn how to install packages (the instructions in the book for ctv,
> and those I found on someone's Web site) aren't working for me.
> 
>  While I'll be asking a lot of questions at first I expect to be providing
> answers and insights before too long.
> 
> Rich
> 
> _______________________________________________
> R-sig-Geo mailing list
> R-sig-Geo at r-project.org
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-geo