Quantification of spatial spread in track‐based applications

Traditionally, spaghetti charts and track ellipses are used in track‐based meteorological applications to illustrate the spatial uncertainty of a set of paths on a map. However, the spatial spread of the set is often evaluated by the eye, and as a result, the decisions made can be highly subjective. A unit‐less metric based on the Fréchet distance is developed and proposed as a consistent way of quantifying spatial uncertainty in track‐based applications. The methodology described is generic and can be configured for use in applications where a measure of the spatial similarity among a set of tracks is required, such as tropical storm track forecasts and flight/ship routing.