Monitoring Dynamically Changing Migratory Flocks Using an Algebraic Graph Theory-Based Clustering Algorithm

Migration flocks have different forms, including single individuals, formations, and irregular clusters. The shape of a flock can change swiftly over time. The real-time clustering of multiple groups with different characteristics is crucial for the monitoring of dynamically changing migratory flocks. Traditional clustering algorithms need to set various prior parameters, including the number of groups, the number of nearest neighbors, or the minimum number of individuals. However, flocks may display complex group behaviors (splitting, combination, etc.), which complicate the choice and adjustment of the parameters. This paper uses a real-time clustering-based method that utilizes concepts from the algebraic graph theory. The connected graph is used to describe the spatial relationship between the targets. The similarity matrix is calculated, and the problem of group clustering is equivalent to the extraction of the partitioned matrices within. This method needs only one prior parameter (the similarity distance) and is adaptive to the group’s splitting and combination. Two modifications are proposed to reduce the computation burden. First, the similarity distance can be broadened to reduce the exponent of the similarity matrix. Second, the omni-directional measurements are divided into multiple sectors to reduce the dimension of the similarity matrix. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified using the experimental results using real radar data.