The Spatial-Time Analysis of Regional Systems (STARS) is a free and open source cross-platform (Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux) geographic information system software package designed for the analysis of areal data measured over time. It has been developed by Regional Analysis Laboratory (REGAL), which is a collaborative research group within the Department of Geography, San Diego State University. STARS package has been implemented using the Python scripting language which makes it easy to install, easy to use, and easy to enhance and expand.
STARS consists of four core analytical modules, including Anselin Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis, Anselin Inequality Measures, Carlino and Mills Mobility Metrics, and Christakos, Bogaert, and Serre Spatial Markov. STARS brings these space-time analysis methods into a user-friendly graphical environment which provides dynamically linked graphic views. STARS can also be used from the command line to support more flexible and specialized types of analyses by advanced users.
The development of STARS has been partially supported by the United States National Science Foundation. However, STARS has evolved rapidly from its origin as a specialized program to support research on regional income dynamics to now being used by researchers, outside of the development team, to examine such issues as spatial dynamics of fertility, land-used cover change, segregation dynamics, migration, commodity flow patterns, and housing market dynamics, among others. Each new application requires the addition of functionality and enhancement of STARS.
The STARS GIS software package supports exploratory dynamic spatial data analysis and it is intended to be used as an exploratory data analysis tool. It is a powerful environment for exploring data that has both temporal and spatial dimensions. It provides many state of the art methods of space-time analysis tools and modules with a user-friendly graphic environment offering an array of dynamically linked graphical views.
STARS is an extensible GIS platform and it has an object-oriented system. In addition to being object-oriented in design, STARS is also highly modularized. The STARS package has been implemented using the Python scripting language. It consists of a series of Python modules which can be used as standalone components or together in an interactive user interface. Many modules have been developed to extend the core analysis and visualization functionality of the STARS.
Geographic information science, widely used as a tool for the dynamic exploratory analysis of data measured for areal units at multiple points in time. The STARS provides a user-friendly graphical environment offering an array of dynamically linked graphical views. As such STARS should appeal to a wide array of users. For more information about STARS’ disciplines, please visit http://regionalanalysislab.org/?n=Screenshots
The Space-Time Analysis of Regional Systems (STARS) is a free and open source cross-platform geographic information system software package. The source code is available under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Any users with an internet access can download the software for free. Visit the STARS download page http://regionalanalysislab.org/?n=Download to find a legitimate download package for the operating system of your choice.