GeoPathSampleR reconstructs bird migration trajectories from stationary-period likelihood maps built with GeoPressureR. Its Gibbs sampler combines residence-dependent departure, a ground-speed distribution conditional on movement, and a prior on cumulative route distance between long periods. Unknown long-period locations can be sampled from light evidence alone. Site and block updates sample locations, while boundary sweeps resample movement timing with segment locations held fixed. The package also provides posterior stay summaries and sampling diagnostics.
To install the latest version from GitHub:
# install.packages("pak")
pak::pkg_install("GeoPressure/GeoPathSampleR")See the getting-started vignette for inputs, movement settings, and interpretation.
For the software, cite:
Nussbaumer, R. (2026). GeoPathSampleR: Posterior Sampling of Geolocator Paths. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21944194. Available at: https://github.com/GeoPressure/GeoPathSampleR
The methods and validation are described in the following submitted manuscript (citation details will be updated after publication):
Nussbaumer, R., Gravey, M., Wong, J. B. & Benoit, L. (2026). Reconstructing bird migration trajectories from light: inspectable likelihoods and biologically informed movement priors. Manuscript submitted.