A rough-and-ready cluster-based approach for extracting finite-time coherent sets from sparse and incomplete trajectory data

Abstract

We present a numerical method to identify regions of phase space that are approximately retained in a mobile compact neighbourhood over a finite time duration. Our approach is based on spatio-temporal clustering of trajectory data. The main advantages of the approach are the ability to produce useful results (i) when there are relatively few trajectories and (ii) when there are gaps in observation of the trajectories as can occur with real data. The method is easy to implement, works in any dimension, and is fast to run.