STRive: An association rule-based system for the exploration of spatiotemporal categorical data

Abstract

Effectively analyzing spatiotemporal data plays a central role in understanding real-world phenomena and informing decision-making. Capturing the interaction between spatial and temporal dimensions also helps explain the underlying structure of the data. However, most datasets do not reveal attribute relationships, requiring additional algorithms to extract meaningful patterns. Existing visualization tools often focus either on attribute relationships or spatiotemporal analysis, but rarely support both simultaneously. In this paper, we present STRive (SpatioTemporal Rule Interactive Visual Explorer), a visual analytics system that enables users to uncover and explore spatial and temporal patterns in data. At the core of STRive lies Association Rule Mining (ARM), which we apply to spatiotemporal datasets to generate interpretable and actionable insights. We combine ARM with multiple interactive mechanisms to analyze the extracted relationships. Association rules serve as interpretable guidance mechanisms for visual analytics by highlighting the meaningful aspects of the data that users should investigate. Our methodology includes three key steps: rule generation, rule clustering, and interactive visualization. STRive offers two modes of analysis. The first operates at the rule cluster level and includes four coordinated views, each showing a different facet of a cluster, including its temporal and spatial behavior. The second mode mirrors the first but focuses on individual rules within a selected cluster. We evaluate the effectiveness of STRive through two case studies involving real-world datasets -- fatal vehicle accidents and urban crime. Results demonstrate the system's ability to support the discovery and analysis of interpretable patterns in complex spatiotemporal contexts.