PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Duff, Cameron
AU  - Antia, Alice
AU  - Hilger, James
AU  - Horsch, Eric
AU  - Merrill, Nathaniel
AU  - Murray, Jason
AU  - Winder, Samantha
AU  - Wood, Spencer
AU  - Zafonte, Matthew
TI  - Evaluating Mobility Data for Recreation Monitoring
AID  - 10.3368/le.102.3.011626-0006
DP  - 2026 Jul 01
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 437--454
VI  - 102
IP  - 3
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/102/3/437.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/102/3/437.full
AB  - Mobile device location data (or mobility data [MD]) are a novel and exciting source of information for recreational monitoring. We analyze datasets from four commercial vendors across three case studies to illustrate some important challenges. Our results show inconsistent spatial-temporal patterns and correlations with on-site counts. Given this evidence, we describe a conceptual model of the potential sources of error and structural variability in visitation estimates derived from MD. We discuss approaches for evaluation of data quality and suggest a range of supplemental data products that vendors could provide to support recreation analysis.