UC Santa Barbara

Navigation, defined as goal-related movement through space and time to reach a destination, is a fundamental human activity. Geographers, physiologists, archeologists, anthropologists, and psychologists have long been interested in the spatial, temporal, and energy expenditure aspects of navigation. Hikers, search and rescue teams, firefighters, the military, and others navigate on foot through rugged terrain, and their success depends on understanding how the dynamics of foot-based navigation affect individual capabilities, caloric requirements, and risk potential.

This research project modeled energy expenditure and speed of movement of human beings engaged in foot-based navigation in wooded environments with varied terrain. The models were developed using spatiotemporal analysis of a subject’s movement trajectories and biometrics. Energy expenditure estimates were collected via biosensors and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) from subjects while they engaged in foot-based navigation through undeveloped, forested landscapes. Trajectory data from 200 subjects were merged with a land cover data set to analyze characteristics of human navigation over varying slopes and terrain. Generalizing these characteristics provided a model of energy expenditure and navigational speed from an origin to destination along an unknown route. The equation developed to model energy expenditure of a human’s route during navigation uses terrain slope, land cover, body mass index (BMI), sex and traveled distance to predict Calorie consumption with an accuracy of 89 percent. The model of navigation speed accurately predicts route completion time within 10 percent. These models help to explain the human dynamics of navigation.