LINKING GPS DATA TO GIS DATABASES IN NATURALISTIC STUDIES: EXAMPLES FROM DRIVERS WITH OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA

Area of Science:

• Transportation Science
• Human Factors
• Sleep Medicine

Background:

• Analyzing naturalistic driving behavior requires contextualization within specific environmental factors like road types and speed limits.
• Understanding driver exposure to diverse environments is crucial for accurate behavioral analysis.
• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may impact driving performance, necessitating detailed contextual analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate an automated method for contextualizing naturalistic driving data.
• To integrate Global Positioning System (GPS) data with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases for enhanced analysis.
• To analyze driving behaviors of individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) within their specific environmental contexts.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 1 Hz GPS data collected from 43 drivers diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
• Merged GPS data with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT).
• Employed GIS software to visualize contextualized driving information at individual drive and daily levels.

Main Results:

• Successfully demonstrated a method for automatically contextualizing naturalistic driving data.
• Illustrated the application of this method using data from drivers with OSA.
• Visualizations provide insights into driving patterns across different road types and environments.

Conclusions:

• Automated contextualization of driving data using GPS and GIS is feasible and valuable.
• This methodology provides a robust framework for analyzing driving behavior in relation to environmental context.
• Further research is needed to address remaining challenges in data integration and analysis.