Open AccessQuantification of spatial spread in track‐based applications
Author(s) -
Cheung Jacob C. H.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
meteorological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1469-8080
pISSN - 1350-4827
DOI - 10.1002/met.1556
Subject(s) - track (disk drive) , computer science , set (abstract data type) , metric (unit) , ellipse , similarity (geometry) , tropical cyclone , data mining , spatial analysis , measure (data warehouse) , remote sensing , meteorology , artificial intelligence , geography , mathematics , image (mathematics) , operations management , geometry , economics , programming language , operating system
Traditionally, spaghetti charts and track ellipses are used in track‐based meteorological applications to illustrate the spatial uncertainty of a set of paths on a map. However, the spatial spread of the set is often evaluated by the eye, and as a result, the decisions made can be highly subjective. A unit‐less metric based on the Fréchet distance is developed and proposed as a consistent way of quantifying spatial uncertainty in track‐based applications. The methodology described is generic and can be configured for use in applications where a measure of the spatial similarity among a set of tracks is required, such as tropical storm track forecasts and flight/ship routing.