Snap Tracks

Snaps input track points to lines. The time-enabled point data must include observations that represent an instant in time. Traversable lines with fields indicating the from and to nodes are required for analysis.

Usage notes

• The following table outlines terminology for Snap Tracks:

• The input DataFrame must contain time-enabled point observations that represent an instant in time. Track observations that do not have a valid timestamp will be excluded from analysis.

• The input line DataFrame must contain fields with the following connectivity information and must be specified in the setConnectivityFields() parameter:

  • From node—The node that the travel along a line is moving away from.
  • To node—The node that the travel along a line is moving to.

• The spatial reference of the points_dataframe parameter value must be the same as the spatial reference of the lines_dataframe parameter value. If the datasets have different spatial references, transform and project one or both of the input DataFrames to the same spatial reference. If the spatial references are not the same, the tool will fail.

• You can specify one or more fields to identify tracks using setTrackFields(). Tracks are represented by the unique combination of one or more track fields. For example, if the vehicleID and Destination fields are used as track identifiers, the observations ID007, 21 First Ave. and ID007, 15 Main Street would be in different tracks since they have different values for the Destination field.

• Tracks must have more than one observation to be used in analysis. Tracks with only one observation will not be matched.

• Point to line matches are made with the following considerations:

  • The observation is within the search distance from a line. This is the minimum requirement. Observations will not be matched if they do not meet the search distance condition.
  • The observation can traverse the lines based on their connectivity.
  • The observation is travelling in a direction supported by the line. This is an optional condition that will be made if you specify values for the setDirectionFieldMatching() parameter. Results that meet this optional condition will be more accurate.

• Use the setSearchDistance() parameter to specify the maximum distance allowed between an observation and a line. For example, if you know the accuracy of the GPS points is approximately 100 meters, specify 100 meters for the search distance.

• The setDistanceMethod() parameter determines how search distances are calculated. There are two distance methods available:

  • Geodesic—If the spatial reference can be continuously panned across the antimeridian, tracks will cross the antimeridian when appropriate. If the spatial reference cannot be continuously panned, tracks will be limited to the coordinate system extent and may not wrap. This is the default.
  • Planar—Tracks will not cross the antimeridian. Use this option if the input data uses a projected coordinate system.

• To include additional line attributes in the results, specify the field names using setAppendFields(). These fields will not be used for analytical purposes and are included for your own use. You cannot include geometry fields in the output result.

• Use the setDirectionFieldMatching() parameter to define the supported directions for each line. For example, a line record has a field named direction with values T (backward), F (forward), B (both), and "" (none). Direction matching is optional but is recommended for accurate results. If no direction matching is specified, the line is assumed to be bidirectional.

• You can split tracks in the following ways:

  • setTimeSplit() - Splits tracks based on a time between input observations. Applying a time split breaks up any track when input data is farther apart than the specified time. For example, if you have five observations with the same track identifier and the times of [01:00, 02:00, 03:30, 06:00, 06:30] and set a time split of 2 hours, any observations that are measured more than 2 hours apart will be split. In this example, the result would be a track with [01:00, 02:00, 03:30] and [06:00, 06:30], because the difference between 03:30 and 6:00 is greater than 2 hours.

  • setTimeBoundarySplit() - Splits tracks based on defined time intervals. Applying a time boundary split segments tracks at a defined interval. For example, if you set the time boundary to 1 day, starting at 9:00 a.m. on January 1, 1990, each track will be truncated at 9:00 a.m. every day. This split accelerates computing time, as it creates smaller tracks for analysis. If splitting by a recurring time boundary makes sense for your analysis, it is recommended for big data processing.

  • setDistanceSplit() - Splits tracks based on a distance between input observations. Applying a distance split breaks up any track when input data is farther apart than the specified distance. For example, if you set a distance split of 5 kilometers, sequential observations greater than 5 kilometers apart will be part of a different track.

• You can apply none, one, two, or three split options at the same time.

• The tool returns points snapped to the nearest location along the line it matched. The lines are not returned. The unique identifier of the line dataset will be available for matched results. The unique identifier field is specified using the setConnectivityFields() parameter. You can identify the matched-to lines by referencing this field.

Results

The tool outputs snapped points and includes the following fields:

Performance notes

Improve the performance of Snap Tracks by doing one or more of the following:

• Only analyze the records in your area of interest. You can pick the records of interest by using one of the following SQL functions:

  • ST_Intersection—Clip to an area of interest represented by a polygon. This will modify your input records.
  • ST_BboxIntersects—Select records that intersect an envelope.
  • ST_EnvIntersects—Select records having an evelope that intersects the envelope of another geometry.
  • ST_Intersects—Select records that intersect another dataset or area of intersect represented by a polygon.
• Use the planar method instead of geodesic.
• Select a smaller search distance.
• Split your tracks using one of the splitting options. setTimeBoundarysplit() will have the biggest performance gains.

Similar functions

• Detect Incidents
• Find Dwell Locations
• Calculate Motion Statistics
• Reconstruct Tracks

Syntax

For more details, go to the GeoAnalytics Engine API reference for snap tracks.

Examples

Run Snap Tracks

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# Log in
import geoanalytics
geoanalytics.auth(username="myusername", password="mypassword")

# Imports
from geoanalytics.tools import SnapTracks

# URLs to Somerville track observation samples and streets

fs_obs_url = "https://services1.arcgis.com/36PP9fe9l4BSnArw/arcgis/rest/services/Somerville_Track_Demo/FeatureServer/0"
fs_streets_url = "https://services1.arcgis.com/36PP9fe9l4BSnArw/arcgis/rest/services/Somerville_Track_Demo/FeatureServer/1"

# Create a DataFrame for the observations, and for the streets
df_obs = spark.read.format("feature-service").load(fs_obs_url)
df_streets = spark.read.format("feature-service").load(fs_streets_url)

# Snap tracks using the device ID as the track identifier (one track in this example), and snap within 10 meters
result = SnapTracks() \
            .setTrackFields("device_id") \
            .setSearchDistance(search_distance=10, search_distance_unit="Meters") \
            .setDistanceMethod(distance_method="Geodesic") \
            .setConnectivityFields(from_node="to_node", to_node="from_node") \
            .setDirectionFieldMatching(direction_field="dirtravel", forward_value="FT",
                                       backward_value="", both_value="", none_value="") \
            .setOutputMode(output_mode="AllPoints") \
            .run(df_obs, df_streets)

# Show 5 of the resulting snapped points and some of the fields generated by the Snap Tracks tool
result.select("OrigX", "OrigY", "MatchX", "MatchY", "MatchDistance", "MatchStatus").show(5)

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+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+-----------+
|             OrigX|             OrigY|            MatchX|            MatchY|     MatchDistance|MatchStatus|
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+-----------+
|-71.13089616399998| 42.40652350400006|-71.13087437825094| 42.40650913907218|2.4005357841483566|          M|
|-71.13105933099996| 42.40627649000004|-71.13103734123595| 42.40626199055026|2.4230211177628846|          M|
|-71.13125732199995|42.406016547000036|-71.13121679850428|42.405989826913796| 4.465237342078937|          M|
|-71.13166744799997| 42.40603550700007| -71.1316405003088|  42.4059621003707| 8.450473655268105|          M|
|-71.13199188199997| 42.40616438300003|-71.13200194392499|  42.4061444057002|2.3686538197215783|          M|
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+-----------+
only showing top 5 rows

Plot results

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# Plots the map using the extent of the point data, plus some small adjustment to show all points
points_extent = result.st.get_extent()

adj = 0.0002

# Add the streets, original observations points, and snapped points to the plot
lines_ax = df_streets.st.plot(aspect="equal", color="grey", figsize=(16,10))

points_ax = df_obs.st.plot(ax=lines_ax, color="red", label='Input observations')
points_ax.set(frame_on=True, xticks=[], yticks=[], xlim=((points_extent.min_x-adj), points_extent.max_x+adj),
              ylim=(points_extent.min_y-adj, points_extent.max_y+adj))
points_ax = result.st.plot(ax=points_ax, color="green",legend = True,
                           label='Snapped results', basemap="light")

leg = points_ax.legend(loc=2)
points_ax.set_title("Observations and snapped results");

Version table

Links to helpful information

• Visualizing results
• Enabling time on a DataFrame
• Using Arcade expressions