A survey on spatio-temporal series prediction with deep learning: taxonomy, applications, and future directions

With the rapid development of data acquisition and storage technology, spatio-temporal (ST) data in various fields are growing explosively, so many ST prediction methods have emerged. The review presented in this paper mainly studies the prediction of ST series. We propose a new taxonomy organized along three dimensions: ST series prediction methods (focusing on time feature learning, focusing on spatial feature learning, and focusing on spatial–temporal feature learning), techniques of ST series prediction (the RNN-, CNN-, and transformer-based models, as well as the CNN-based-composite model and GNN-based-composite models, and the miscellaneous model) and ST series prediction results (single target and multi-target). We first introduce and explain each dimension of the taxonomy in detail. After providing this three-dimensional view, we comprehensively review and compare the recent related ideas in the literature and analyze their advantages and limitations. Moreover, we summarize the key information of the existing literature and provide guidance for researchers to select suitable models. Second, we summarize the different applications of deep learning models in ST series prediction based on current literature and list relevant datasets and download links per application classifications. Lastly, we comprehensively analyze the current innovation and challenges and suggest future directions for researching ST series prediction after comparing and analyzing the computing performance of these forecasting models. In addition, each method or model solves one aspect of the challenge, which means that two or more methods should be combined to solve more challenges at the same time. We hope this article provides readers a broader and deeper understanding of the field of ST series research.