Random encounters in probabilistic time geography

Abstract

Probabilistic time geography considers the encounter of moving agents to be random; therefore, a quantitative time geography analysis must consider the actual encounter probability. The existing algorithm of encounter probability is oriented over a discrete space and is sensitive to the unit definition of a virtual grid; thus, it is not suitable for continuous space. For this reason, a new method is presented in this paper for the encounter of two moving agents in continuous space. When the encounters are less than a specified distance threshold apart, an encounter event occurs based on the probability of the product, which is calculated by their respective probability density functions over..