ThinkSpatial: Somayeh Dodge

Multi-Scale Modeling and Analysis of Movement

Somayeh Dodge

University of California Santa Barbara

Abstract: Movement is a complex multidimensional process that operates in a space-time-context continuum across multiple scales. Regardless of the context or entity type, movement happens through a series of embedded patterns at different granularities. Hence, the study of movement requires careful consideration and integration of all three forms of granularity (as in Kuhn (2012)): spatial (micro-steps to macro flows), temporal (high-frequency short-term events to low-frequency long-term processes), and thematic (individual movement to collective dynamics). This presentation reviews my ongoing work on synthesizing a multiscale model of movement through mining and integration of movement patterns at different granularities. Using movement ecology as an application, I show how multiscale analysis of trajectories are applied to identify patterns of movement at different frequencies and how these patterns can be combined in a multiscale model of movement to reconstruct trajectories.

Bio: Somayeh Dodge serves as Assistant Professor of Spatial Data Science and leads the Move Laboratory in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her PhD in Geography with a specialization in Geographic Information Science (GIScience) from the University of Zurich, Switzerland in October 2011. She holds a MS degree in GIS Engineering and a BS degree in Geomatics Engineering from the KNT University of Technology, Iran. Dodge’s research focuses on developing data analytics, knowledge discovery, modeling, and visualization techniques to study movement in human and ecological systems. She has published in a number of high-ranked international journals such as Methods in Ecology and Evolution, International Journal of Geographic Information Science, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Journal of Spatial Information Science (JOSIS), Movement Ecology, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems (CEUS), Geographical Analysis, and Information Visualization. Dodge has recently been appointed as the Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Spatial Information Science. She currently serves on the editorial board of multiple journals including Geographical Analysis, CEUS, Journal of Location Based Services, and The Professional Geographer.