Dynamic Population Estimation Using Anonymized Mobility Data

Abstract

Fine population distribution both in space and in time is crucial for epidemic management, disaster prevention, urban planning and more. Human mobility data have a great potential for mapping population distribution at a high level of spatiotemporal resolution. Power law models are the most popular ones for mapping mobility data to population. However, they fail to provide consistent estimations under different spatial and temporal resolutions, i.e. they have to be recalibrated whenever the spatial or temporal partitioning scheme changes. We propose a Bayesian model for dynamic population estimation using static census data and anonymized mobility data. Our model gives consistent population estimations under different spatial and temporal resolutions.