Integrating spatial dependence into functional clustering of NDVI in the Ecuadorian Andes.

Spatial dependence into environmental data is an influential criterion in clustering processes, as the resulting clustering outputs depend very much upon such spatial structure. As classical methods do not take spatial dependence in consideration, the inclusion of this structure produces unexpected but more realistic results and clusters of curves that may not be similar in shape or behavior. In this paper, clustering is made using the KMSCFD algorithm for spatially correlated functional data. The methodology was developed through weighting the distance matrix between the curves with the trace‐variogram calculated with the coefficients of the basis functions resulting from a data smoothing operation. For the validation of the method, a number of simulated scenarios were tested together with an application to Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data derived from a high elevation ecosystem in the Ecuadorian Andes. Quality indices are implemented to obtain the appropriate number of clusters. The analysis showed five different regions that were latitudinally distributed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]