Authors
Xin Lu, David J Wrathall, Pål Roe Sundsøy, Md Nadiruzzaman, Erik Wetter, Asif Iqbal, Taimur Qureshi, Andrew J Tatem, Geoffrey S Canright, Kenth Engø-Monsen, Linus Bengtsson
Publication date
2016/10
Journal
Climatic Change
Volume
138
Pages
505-519
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Description
Large-scale data from digital infrastructure, like mobile phone networks, provides rich information on the behavior of millions of people in areas affected by climate stress. Using anonymized data on mobility and calling behavior from 5.1 million Grameenphone users in Barisal Division and Chittagong District, Bangladesh, we investigate the effect of Cyclone Mahasen, which struck Barisal and Chittagong in May 2013. We characterize spatiotemporal patterns and anomalies in calling frequency, mobile recharges, and population movements before, during and after the cyclone. While it was originally anticipated that the analysis might detect mass evacuations and displacement from coastal areas in the weeks following the storm, no evidence was found to suggest any permanent changes in population distributions. We detect anomalous patterns of mobility both around the time of early warning messages and …
Total citations
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