Unsupervised learning of Swiss population spatial distribution

PLoS One. 2021 Feb 11;16(2):e0246529. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246529. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The paper deals with the analysis of spatial distribution of Swiss population using fractal concepts and unsupervised learning algorithms. The research methodology is based on the development of a high dimensional feature space by calculating local growth curves, widely used in fractal dimension estimation and on the application of clustering algorithms in order to reveal the patterns of spatial population distribution. The notion "unsupervised" also means, that only some general criteria-density, dimensionality, homogeneity, are used to construct an input feature space, without adding any supervised/expert knowledge. The approach is very powerful and provides a comprehensive local information about density and homogeneity/fractality of spatially distributed point patterns.

MeSH terms

  • Human Migration / trends*
  • Humans
  • Population Density*
  • Switzerland
  • Unsupervised Machine Learning*

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.