Calculating correlation of spatial patterns from 2 raster laters

[ShobhaMaharaj]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to determine whether there is any correlation between the spatial data within 2 raster layers I've generated from some species distribution analyses. The first raster consists of climate data (annual precipitation) for the study region and is therefore continuous in nature. The second raster indicates the number of species present within this region - which is categorised into three distinct categories - and is hence discrete.

I have been searching for methods to determine correlation between spatial datasets - but all I seem to be coming across is information of spatial autocorrelation.

Any suggestion  of literature or the type of test I should be exploring would be much appreciated!

Many Thanks,

excelsa

[PhilMorefield]

The term you should Google first is "categorical data analysis". Take a look at "contingency table analysis" and the "Kruskal-Wallis" test. In this case I doubt very highly that correlation statistics will be very useful or defensible.