title: Dynamic population mapping using mobile phone data.
abstract: During the past few decades, technologies such as remote sensing, geographical information systems, and global positioning systems have transformed the way the distribution of human population is studied and modeled in space and time. However, the mapping of populations remains constrained by the logistics of censuses and surveys. Consequently, spatially detailed changes across scales of days, weeks, or months, or even year to year, are difficult to assess and limit the application of human population maps in situations in which timely information is required, such as disasters, conflicts, or epidemics. Mobile phones (MPs) now have an extremely high penetration rate across the globe, and analyzing the spatiotemporal distribution of MP calls geolocated to the tower level may overcome many limitations of census-based approaches, provided that the use of MP data is properly assessed and calibrated. Using datasets of more than 1 billion MP call records from Portugal and France, we show how spatially and temporarily explicit estimations of population densities can be produced at national scales, and how these estimates compare with outputs produced using alternative human population mapping methods. We also demonstrate how maps of human population changes can be produced over multiple timescales while preserving the anonymity of MP users. With similar data being collected every day by MP network providers across the world, the prospect of being able to map contemporary and changing human population distributions over relatively short intervals exists, paving the way for new applications and a near real-time understanding of patterns and processes in human geography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics, Université catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Center for Complex Network Research and Physics Department, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115; Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium;
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deville
authors.affiliation: Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium; Biological Control and Spatial Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium; linard.catherine@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0819-7755
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Linard
authors.affiliation: Université de Lorraine CNRS, Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy, UMR 7039, 54518 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium; Biological Control and Spatial Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium;
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292;
authors.forename: Forrest R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292;
authors.forename: Andrea E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Gaughan
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics, Université catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium;
authors.forename: Vincent D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Blondel
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom; Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892; and Flowminder Foundation, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Tatem
mesh_terms: D040421:Cell Phone; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011174:Portugal
keywords: census; human mobility; phone calls; population distribution; remote sensing