Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Trajectory Data Analyses for Pedestrian Space-time Activity Study
Published on: February 25, 2013
Dynamic Patterns and Modeling of Early COVID-19 Transmission by Dynamic Mode Decomposition
Dehong Fang1, Lei Guo2, M Courtney Hughes3
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northern Illinois University, 1425 W Lincoln Hwy, DeKalb, IL 60115 (ahdhfang@hotmail.com).
Introduction:
Understanding the transmission patterns and dynamics of COVID-19 is critical to effective monitoring, intervention, and control for future pandemics. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of COVID-19 transmission during the early stage of the outbreak in the US, with the goal of informing future responses to similar outbreaks.
Methods:
We used dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) and national data on COVID-19 cases (April 6, 2020-October 9, 2020) to model the spread of COVID-19 in the US as a dynamic system. DMD can decompose the complex evolution of disease cases into linear combinations of simple spatial patterns or structures (modes) with time-dependent mode amplitudes (coefficients). The modes reveal the hidden dynamic behaviors of the data. We identified geographic patterns of COVID-19 spread and quantified time-dependent changes in COVID-19 cases during the study period.
Results:
The magnitude analysis from the dominant mode in DMD showed that California, Louisiana, Kansas, Georgia, and Texas had higher numbers of COVID-19 cases than other areas during the study period. States such as Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas showed simultaneous increases in the number of COVID-19 cases, consistent with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Conclusion:
Results from DMD analysis indicate that certain areas in the US shared similar trends and similar spatiotemporal transmission patterns of COVID-19. These results provide valuable insights into the spread of COVID-19 and can inform policy makers and public health authorities in designing and implementing mitigation interventions.
Related Concept Videos
Steps in Outbreak Investigation
Mechanistic Models: Compartment Models in Individual and Population Analysis
Causality in Epidemiology
Statistical Methods for Analyzing Epidemiological Data
Principles of Disease Surveillance
Model Approaches for Pharmacokinetic Data: Distributed Parameter Models
The distributed parameter models are specifically designed to account for variations and differences in some drug classes. This model is particularly useful for assessing regional concentrations of anticancer or...

