Pedestrian mobility network 2020-2024
Beyond heatmaps: aggregating GNSS tracks to build a pedestrian mobility network and characterize hiking patterns
These datasets represent the footprint of hiking activities based on movement traces observed during outdoor activities. They take the form of pedestrian mobility networks constructed by aggregating GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) trajectories, representing as accurately as possible the spatial structure of paths commonly followed by all the individual sample trajectories. They thus make it possible to characterize hiking patterns, particularly in areas where the observed traces do not follow trails, as well as in sectors with a high density of trajectories where the structure of routes is difficult to distinguish visually.
The networks are modelled as graphs whose edges correspond to path segments reconstructed from the trajectories, while their topology describes the connections between these segments.
The GNSS data used to construct these datasets were produced and provided by the Outdoorvision platform, a service that enables users to voluntarily share tracks recorded during their outdoor activities. The platform is supported by the Pôle Ressources National Sports de Nature (PRNSN). The tracks were extracted from the platform and then cleaned, filtered, and anonymised by the PRNSN.
These three datasets were constructed using a dedicated workflow implemented in the open-source footprint2graph library, whose documentation is available online (https://footprint2graph.readthedocs.io).
The parameters used for the pipeline, as well as the notebooks describing the implementations for each study area, are available in the library repository (https://github.com/umrlastig/footprint2graph).
The datasets are distributed in tabular format (CSV). They contain the geometry of the graph edges in text format (WKT) and their topology, including the identifiers of the incoming and outgoing nodes.
In their latest version, the datasets cover three study areas:
- a small area located in the Bauges National Hunting and Wildlife Reserve (RNCFS), around the Plateau de la Limace;
- two small areas located in the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc valley: the first on the western side of the valley, around the Planpraz plateau, and the second on the northern, shaded side of the Aiguilles de Chamonix, around the Plan de l’Aiguille.
For each dataset, a metadata record compliant with the standard for the description of geographic data is also provided in XML format.