The Law of Scale Independence
Geography and geosciences deal with phenomena that span spatial scales from the molecular to the planetary, and temporal scales from instantaneous to billions of years. A strong reductionist tradition in geosciences and spatial sciences tempts us to seek to apply similar representations and process-...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Annals of GIS |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19475683.2022.2026466 |
| _version_ | 1818984944784900096 |
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| author | Jonathan D. Phillips |
| author_facet | Jonathan D. Phillips |
| author_sort | Jonathan D. Phillips |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Geography and geosciences deal with phenomena that span spatial scales from the molecular to the planetary, and temporal scales from instantaneous to billions of years. A strong reductionist tradition in geosciences and spatial sciences tempts us to seek to apply similar representations and process-based explanations across these vast-scale ranges, usually from a bottom-up perspective. However, the law of scale independence (LSI) states that for any phenomenon that exists across a sufficiently large range of scales, there exists a scale separation distance at which the scales are independent with respect to system dynamics and explanation. The LSI is evaluated here from five independent perspectives: geographic intuition, dynamical systems theory, Kolmogorov entropy, hierarchy theory, and algebraic graph theory. All of these support the LSI. Results indicate that rather than attempting to identify the largest or smallest relevant scales and work down or up from there, the LSI dictates a strategy of focusing directly on the most important or interesting scales. An example is given from a hierarchical state factor model of ecosystem responses to climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:27:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a85ccd4b57584e6999f0c40077f7ede0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1947-5683 1947-5691 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:27:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of GIS |
| spelling | doaj.art-a85ccd4b57584e6999f0c40077f7ede02022-12-21T19:30:07ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAnnals of GIS1947-56831947-56912022-01-01281152910.1080/19475683.2022.20264662026466The Law of Scale IndependenceJonathan D. Phillips0University of KentuckyGeography and geosciences deal with phenomena that span spatial scales from the molecular to the planetary, and temporal scales from instantaneous to billions of years. A strong reductionist tradition in geosciences and spatial sciences tempts us to seek to apply similar representations and process-based explanations across these vast-scale ranges, usually from a bottom-up perspective. However, the law of scale independence (LSI) states that for any phenomenon that exists across a sufficiently large range of scales, there exists a scale separation distance at which the scales are independent with respect to system dynamics and explanation. The LSI is evaluated here from five independent perspectives: geographic intuition, dynamical systems theory, Kolmogorov entropy, hierarchy theory, and algebraic graph theory. All of these support the LSI. Results indicate that rather than attempting to identify the largest or smallest relevant scales and work down or up from there, the LSI dictates a strategy of focusing directly on the most important or interesting scales. An example is given from a hierarchical state factor model of ecosystem responses to climate change.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19475683.2022.2026466law of scale independencescale linkagescale hierarchygeographical systemsstate factor model |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan D. Phillips The Law of Scale Independence Annals of GIS law of scale independence scale linkage scale hierarchy geographical systems state factor model |
| title | The Law of Scale Independence |
| title_full | The Law of Scale Independence |
| title_fullStr | The Law of Scale Independence |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Law of Scale Independence |
| title_short | The Law of Scale Independence |
| title_sort | law of scale independence |
| topic | law of scale independence scale linkage scale hierarchy geographical systems state factor model |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19475683.2022.2026466 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonathandphillips thelawofscaleindependence AT jonathandphillips lawofscaleindependence |