Identification of diffusion coefficient in nonhomogeneous landscapes

Diffusion models have been found in various applications in the study of spatial population dynamics for modeling the species dispersal process in natural environments. Diffusion coefficient is a critical parameter in diffusion equations. In this paper, a new method for estimating the diffusion coefficient of insects is presented in terms of occupancy time and the method can produce any desired accuracy. The study of modeling biological organism movement behaviors in a nonhomogeneous landscape is critical in investigating the interplay between environmental heterogeneity and organism movements. By constructing a set of eigenvalues, we can characterize the insect biased movement when insect crosses the intersection of two different type of landscape elements. Some numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical outcomes obtained in the paper.