Software for MGWR: A Comparison of Six Algorithms
Published online on March 24, 2026
Abstract
["Transactions in GIS, Volume 30, Issue 2, April 2026. ", "\nABSTRACT\nRegression‐based local modeling through multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) is popular in studies of spatial processes across a wide array of disciplines, and six major software packages exist for this purpose: MGWR 2.2.1; mgwr‐plugin 1.1 in QGIS; MGWR in ArcGIS Pro 3.4.3; GWmodel 2.4.1 in R; GWmodelS 1.0.4; and mgwrsar 1.1 in R. We compare major functionalities, model specification options, and performance attributes of these algorithms using both simulated and empirical data and show that the calibration results are not always consistent. The results provide an important reminder that the software used in calibrating local models should always be cited.\n"]