spatiaaliseen

Spatiaalinen is a Finnish adjective meaning spatial, relating to space. It is widely used in Finnish scientific and technical language to describe phenomena, data, or concepts that concern the geometry of space, distribution, or relations among objects in two- or three-dimensional space. The term is a loanword derived from Latin spatialis, through English spatial, and has been established in Finnish academic vocabulary since the 20th century. In Finnish, spatiaalinen declines with the noun it modifies; spatiaalisen, spatiaaliseen, spatiaalisen, etc., are common inflected forms. The form spatiaaliseen is the illative singular form used when the phrase indicates movement toward or entry into a spatial context, such as spatiaaliseen kontekstiin or spatiaaliseen analyysiin.

Usage examples: spatiaalinen data refers to data defined with geographic or geometric coordinates; spatiaalinen analyysi refers to analysis that considers the location and arrangement of features in space; spatiaalinen suunnittelu appears in urban planning and GIS. The concept overlaps with related terms such as geographic or geospatial (maantieteellinen, geospatiaalinen). In cognitive science, spatiaalinen is used to discuss spatial perception and memory.

See also: geospatial, spatial analysis, GIS, geography, cartography.