Flow descriptors of human mobility networks

Mobile phone data has enabled the timely and fine-grained study human mobility. Call Detail Records, generated at call events, allow building descriptions of mobility at different resolutions and with different spatial, temporal and social granularity. Individual trajectories are the basis for long-term observation of mobility patterns and identify factors of human dynamics. Here we propose a systematic analysis to characterize mobility network flows and topology and assess their impact into individual traces. Discrete flow-based descriptors are used to classify and understand human mobility patterns at multiple scales. This framework is suitable to assess urban planning, optimize transportation, measure the impact of external events and conditions, monitor internal dynamics and profile users according to their movement patterns.