Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
Summer 2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (BS)
Department
Department of Integrated Science and Technology
Advisor(s)
Helmut Kraenzle
Abstract
Abstract:
This project is an exploration into creating and manipulating Thiessen polygons. Thiessen polygons are zones created around points to show the area closer to each point than any other point in the set. Thiessen polygons are used to extend climate data from individual stations across areas. After creating the new procedure applications of the algorithm were considered.
The manipulation explored in the project focused on allowing the borders of traditional Thiessen polygons to be shifted based on values among the points. These manipulated Thiessen polygons have been dubbed weighted Thiessen polygons.
These weighted Thiessen polygons were created using the Python programing language and ESRI ARCMAP software. Each edge of weighted Thiessen polygons gets shifted so that points with higher values get larger zones proportional to other points.
In order to demonstrate how weighted Thiessen polygons work a set of points corresponding to teams from the National Football League were weighted based on team wins and playoff success over ten year increments starting from the 1966 season that marked the first Superbowl. These results were used to estimate fan bases among teams and shifts over time.
Recommended Citation
Spohn, Colin, "Creation of weighted Theissen polygons using Python" (2015). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 96.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/96
