Online Mini-Lecture:: Programming For Geographical Information Analysis: Advanced Skills Introduction To Fuzzy Logic

Programming for
Geographical Information Analysis:

Advanced Skills
Online mini-lecture: Introduction to Fuzzy Logic

Dr Andy Evans
How do our statements match the
real world?
We’re assuming we know what words like “hunger” and “high”
mean in “if hunger is high go to café”.
While we might be able to give a clear RDF definition of “hunger”

it won’t ever match the real world. This may not matter if our rules
replicate reality quantitatively.
However, to do this, we need to define and use “high”.

For this, we need Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic.
Fuzziness
Traditional logic: true vs. false
Traditional empiricism: what exists or does not, what causes
something, and what doesn’t.
THESE ARE THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE.
However, since the early Greeks, people have found that the way we
understand the world isn’t black and white.
The Sorites Paradox

If I remove one sand grain from a pile, it’s still a pile, but if I carry on, it’s
soon not a pile (well, go figure…).
Reality is fuzzy
Language isn’t usually precise…

How hot is “hot”? 30 degrees? 40 degrees?
Reality isn’t actually that precise…

Most things, including us, are just continually renewing lumps of
geology! Where do we begin? Where do we end?
Atoms aren’t distinct.
Shrödinger’s poor old cat is both alive and dead.
Fuzzy Sets and Logic
Fuzzy Sets let us say something is 90% “one thing” and 10% “another”,
without being illogical.
Fuzzy Logic then lets us use this in rules:

E.g. it’s 90% “right” to do something, so I’ll do it 90% - adding warm
water to a washing machine cycle, for example.
The fuzzy rebellion
1923: “Bertie” Russell releases a paper on Vagueness.
How do we define objects that are partly in two normally mutually
exclusive sets?
1937: Black defines Vague sets.
1965: Zadeh coins the daft name “Fuzzy” for a logic based on Vague
set membership, instantly putting humourless scientist’s backs up.
1972: 1st practical demonstration Mamdani’s steam engine.
1981: 1st commercial applications using fuzzy logic to control systems.
1994: Japan exported $35 billion worth of fuzzy products.
Scientists loved it so much…
“Fuzzy theory is wrong, wrong, and pernicious.

What we need is more logical thinking, not less.
The danger of fuzzy logic is that it will encourage
the sort of imprecise thinking that has brought us
so much trouble. Fuzzy logic is the cocaine of
science.”
Prof William Kahan
The advantages of Fuzzy Logic
Lets us use terms like “hot” in computers, integrating

knowledge and machine learning.
A very simple approach to building computer models of

geographical systems.
The model uses human language, so it’s reasonably

understandable.
Fuzzy Sets
We give things a degree of membership between 0 and 1 in several sets (to a combined
total of 1).
We then label these sets using human terms.
Encapsulates terms with no consensus definition, but we might use surveys to define
them.
1
Degree of membership
Membership
Young Middle Old function
0.5 Aged
0 50 90 Age
38yr old = 10% Young + 90% Middle Aged
Fuzzy Logic models
We give our variables membership functions, and

express the variables as nouns (“length”,
“temperature”) or adjectives (“long”, “hot”).
We can then build up linguistic equations (“IF length

long, AND temperature hot, THEN openWindow”).
Crisp data How the models work
Fuzzifier Inputs converted to
Member 90% hot degrees of membership
10% cold of fuzzy sets.
Fuzzy rules
IF 90% hot THEN 80% open Fuzzy rules applied to get
IF 10% cold THEN 20% closed new sets of members.
Fuzzy output set

80% open, 20% closed These sets are then
converted back to real
Defuzzifier numbers.
Crisp data
A model to work out time by foot
itchiness
Work out how bored you are (take a poll of happiness vs. foot
itchiness)…
1
Degree of membership
Membership
function
0.5 Happy Bored
0 5 10
Foot itchiness
0.6 bored to tears + 0.4 happy as Larry
Decide on rules
If BORED then LECTURE LONG.
If HAPPY the LECTURE SHORT.
Make Fuzzy sets defining people’s notion of “Long” and

“Short”
Short Long
0 2
hours
Transfer the degrees to the output sets
1
0.6 Bored
Short Long
0.4 Happy
0 2 Hours
Adjust the heights of the sets to e.g. 40% for short.

1
0.6
0.4
0 2 Hours
Calculate the average
The average is usually taken as the gravitational centre

of the sets combined.
0.6
0.4
0 2
We’re only half way through!

Uses in geography
Spatial Interaction: modelling flows between regions. Can
capture the following kind of rules..
If distance is SHORT then TRIPS are LOTS.
If distance is MEDIUM then TRIPS are some.
If distance is LONG then TRIPS are few.
GIS, remote sensing, land evaluation.

Fuzzy viewsheds.
Fuzzy GIS - expert system shell on an intelligent GIS.
Classification of land cover (vegetation, soils) from satellite imagery.
Uses in geography
Physical Geography
Creation of climate classifications.
Fuzzy models of infiltration.
Flood forecasting.
Modelling subglacial water systems.
Demographics
What is the typical behaviour of a group?
Is everyone acting normally?
Open to abuse – but think how it might catch murderous
extremists, for example. We simply must have it, or society will
disintegrate and we’ll all be eating babies before you can say
“police state”.
Other stuff
It’s often helpful to get other AI techniques to generate

the membership functions – e.g. Neural Nets and Genetic
Algorithms.
It’s often useful to combine several AIs with Fuzzy Logic –

e.g. you might have a Net for “low” river flows and
another for “high” ones, and a Fuzzy Logic engine
between combining the results.

Online Mini-Lecture:: Programming For Geographical Information Analysis: Advanced Skills Introduction To Fuzzy Logic

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Programming for

Geographical Information Analysis:

Online mini-lecture: Introduction to Fuzzy Logic

While we might be able to give a clear RDF definition of “hunger”

However, to do this, we need to define and use “high”.

The Sorites Paradox

Language isn’t usually precise…

Reality isn’t actually that precise…

Fuzzy Logic then lets us use this in rules:

“Fuzzy theory is wrong, wrong, and pernicious.

Lets us use terms like “hot” in computers, integrating

A very simple approach to building computer models of

The model uses human language, so it’s reasonably

We give our variables membership functions, and

We can then build up linguistic equations (“IF length

Fuzzy output set

Make Fuzzy sets defining people’s notion of “Long” and

Adjust the heights of the sets to e.g. 40% for short.

The average is usually taken as the gravitational centre

We’re only half way through!

GIS, remote sensing, land evaluation.

It’s often helpful to get other AI techniques to generate

It’s often useful to combine several AIs with Fuzzy Logic –

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