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Calculate distances between GPS track points

calculate_distance.Rd

Calculates the distance between consecutive GPS track points and adds both individual segment distances and cumulative distance to the track points data frame.

Usage

calculate_distance(track_points)

Arguments

track_points

A data frame containing track points with at least the following columns:

  • lon - longitude in decimal degrees

  • lat - latitude in decimal degrees

Value

The input data frame with the following additional columns:

  • distance - distance to previous point in meters (0 for the first point)

  • cumulative_distance - cumulative distance traveled in kilometers

Details

This function uses the Haversine formula to calculate the great-circle distance between consecutive GPS points, accounting for the curvature of the Earth. The first point has a distance of 0, and each subsequent point's distance is measured from the previous point.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# First read a GPX file
track_data <- read_gpx_track("path/to/activity.gpx")

# Calculate distances
track_data <- calculate_distance(track_data)

# View the distance data
head(track_data[, c("lon", "lat", "distance", "cumulative_distance")])
} # }