Simple density calculations
The simple method for
creating a density surface uses a circular search area, or neighborhood, to
calculate cell values. In a density surface, individual cell values are
calculated by dividing the number of features that fall within the search area
(e.g., observations) by the size of the area (e.g., 2.88 acres). The resulting
value is then assigned to the cell. Every cell in the surface is processed in
the same way.
The size of the search
radius affects the result of a density calculation. A larger search radius
produces a smoother surface because a larger search radius is more likely to encompass
data points.