Interactive visual cluster detection in large geospatial datasets based on dynamic density volume visualization

The emerging spatial big data (e.g. detailed spatial trajectories, geo-referenced social media data) provide tremendous opportunities for GIScientists and geographers. However, their large volume also poses challenges to existing spatial data analytical techniques (including visual analytical techniques). This article presents an interactive visual approach to detect clusters from those emerging data sets based on dynamic density volume visualization in a three-dimensional space (two spatial dimensions plus a third temporal or thematic dimension of interest). Cluster can be visually discovered through dynamic adjustment of density to colour/opacity mapping and extracted through flexible selection tools. The approach was tested on a large simulated data-set and a spatial trajectory data-set. The results show that the approach can overcome the visual clotting problem in traditional visualization tools caused by large data volume and facilitate the involvement of domain knowledge in analysis. It can effectively support visual cluster detection in the emerging large geospatial data sets.