spacenet.global_metrics.alpha_index

spacenet.global_metrics.alpha_index(spatial_network)

The alpha index, also knowned as the meshedness coefficient, is a metric used to evaluate and measure the connectivity of a network. It is calculated as the ratio between the actual number of fundamental circuits (cycles) and the maximum possible number of circuits in that network. A tree-like network has alpha ~0 and a max planar network has alpha ~1.

Parameters:

spatial_networknetworkx.Graph

The spatial network for which to compute the alpha index.

Returns:

alphafloat

The alpha index of the network.