Temporal analysis of partial moving patterns identified from large trajectory datasets: A case study of Ocean eddies in the South China Sea

Trajectory data not only contains spatial locations but also rich temporal information. Discovering the temporal characteristics of trajectories is essential for understanding the dynamics of partial moving patterns. This paper presents an analysis approach to exploring temporal features of moving objects. The method first extracted representative routes from original trajectories, and then calculated the dominant time span of each line segment of the traveling routes, and finally visualized the routes on the map for subsequent analysis. Ocean eddies which are frequently observed in the South China Sea (SCS) were selected as a case study to test the utility of this approach. The time heterogeneity of the identified moving paths revealed potential seasonal movements of eddies, which demonstrated the ability of this analysis method to discover dynamic patterns from trajectories.