Multi-scale spatio-temporal analysis of human mobility

TL;DR

This study analyzes high-resolution digital traces from 850 individuals over 25 months to understand human mobility patterns across multiple scales, revealing log-normal distributions in movement and discovery behaviors.

Contribution

It provides a detailed multi-scale analysis of human mobility using high-resolution data, uncovering log-normal distributions and natural time-scales in movement and discovery patterns.

Findings

Distances and waiting times follow log-normal distributions.

Natural time-scales emerge from mobility regularity.

Discovery patterns also follow log-normal distributions.

Abstract

The recent availability of digital traces generated by phone calls and online logins has significantly increased the scientific understanding of human mobility. Until now, however, limited data resolution and coverage have hindered a coherent description of human displacements across different spatial and temporal scales. Here, we characterise mobility behaviour across several orders of magnitude by analysing ~850 individuals' digital traces sampled every ~16 seconds for 25 months with ~10 meters spatial resolution. We show that the distributions of distances and waiting times between consecutive locations are best described by log-normal distributions and that natural time-scales emerge from the regularity of human mobility. We point out that log-normal distributions also characterise the patterns of discovery of new places, implying that they are not a simple consequence of the routine of modern life.