Visualization Analysis & Design

Spatial Data
Focus on Spatial

Spatial

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Spatial data
• use given spatial position
• when?
– dataset contains spatial attributes and they have primary importance
– central tasks revolve around understanding spatial relationships

• examples
– geographical/cartographic data
– sensor/simulation data

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Geographic Maps

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Geographic Map
Interlocking marks
• shape coded
• area coded
• position coded
• cannot encode another
attribute with these
channels, they're "taken"

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Thematic maps
• show spatial variability of attribute ("theme")
– combine geographic / reference map with (simple, flat) tabular data
– join together
• region: interlocking area marks (provinces, countries with outline shapes)
– also could have point marks (cities, locations with 2D lat/lon coords)
• region: categorical key attribute in table
– use to look up value attributes
• major idioms
– choropleth
– symbol maps
– cartograms
– dot density maps

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Idiom: choropleth map
• use given spatial data
– when central task is understanding spatial
relationships
• data
– geographic geometry
– table with 1 quant attribute per region
• encoding http://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/4060606
– position:
use given geometry for area mark boundaries
– color:
sequential segmented colormap

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Beware: Population maps trickiness!

[
https://xkcd.com/1138 ]

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Beware: Population maps trickiness!
• spurious correlations: most attributes
just show where people live

[
https://xkcd.com/1138 ]

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Beware: Population maps trickiness!
• spurious correlations: most attributes
just show where people live
• consider when to normalize by
population density
• encode raw data values
– tied to underlying population
• but should use normalized values
– unemployed people per 100 citizens, mean family
income

[
https://xkcd.com/1138 ]

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Beware: Population maps trickiness!
• spurious correlations: most attributes
just show where people live
• consider when to normalize by
population density
• encode raw data values
– tied to underlying population
• but should use normalized values
– unemployed people per 100 citizens, mean family
income
• general issue
– absolute counts vs relative/normalized data
– failure to normalize is common error [
https://xkcd.com/1138 ]

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Choropleth maps: Recommendations
• only use when central task is understanding spatial relationships
• show only one variable at a time
• normalize when appropriate
• be careful when choosing colors & bins
• best case: regions are roughly equal sized

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Choropleth map: Pros & cons
• pros
– easy to read and understand
– well established visualization (no learning curve)
– data is often collected and aggregated by geographical regions
• cons
– most effective visual variable used for geographic location
– visual salience depends on region size, not true importance wrt attribute value
• large regions appear more important than small ones
– color palette choice has a huge influence on the result

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Idiom: Symbol maps
• symbol is used to represent aggregated data (mark or glyph)
–allows use of size and shape and color channels
• aka proportional symbol maps, graduated symbol maps
• keep original spatial geometry in the background
• often a good alternative to choropleth maps

State population

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Symbol maps with glyphs

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Symbol map: Pros & cons
• pros
– somewhat intuitive to read and understand
– mitigate problems with region size vs data salience
• marks: symbol size follows attribute value
• glyphs: symbol size can be uniform
• cons
– possible occlusion / overlap
• symbols could overlap each other
• symbols could occlude region boundaries
– complex glyphs may require explanation / training

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Idiom: Contiguous cartogram
• interlocking marks:
shape, area, and position coded
• derive new interlocking marks
–based on combination of original
interlocking marks and new quantitative Greenhouse Emissions
attribute
• algorithm to create new marks
–input: target size
–goal: shape as close to the original as
possible
–requirement: maintain constraints
• relative position Child Mortality
• contiguous boundaries with their neighbours

Mark Newman, Univ. Michigan 19

 Idiom: Grid Cartogram

• uniform-sized shapes arranged in rectilinear grid

• maintain approximate spatial position and arrangement
Cartogram: Pros & cons
• pros
– can be intriguing and engaging
– best case: strong and surprising size disparities
– non-contiguous cartograms often easier to understand
• cons
– require substantial familiarity with original dataset & use of memory
• compare distorted marks to memory of original marks
• mitigation strategies: transitions or side by side views
– major distortion is problematic
• may be aesthetically displeasing
• may result in unrecognizable marks
– difficult to extract exact quantities

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Idiom: Dot density maps
• visualize distribution of a phenomenon by placing dots
• one symbol represents
a constant number of items
– dots have uniform size & shape
– allows use of color channel
• task:
show spatial patterns, clusters

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Dot density maps: Pros and cons
• pros
– straightforward to understand
– avoids choropleth non-uniform region size problems
• cons
– challenge: normalization, just like choropleths
• show population density (correlated with attribute), not effect of interest
– perceptual disadvantage:
difficult to extract quantities

–performance disadvantage:
rendering many dots can be slow

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Map Projections
• mathematical functions that map 3D surface geometry of the
Earth to 2D maps
• all projections of sphere on plane necessarily distort surface in
some way
• interactive: philogb.github.io/page/myriahedral/ and jasondavies.com/maps/

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Visualization Analysis & Design
Focus on Spatial

Spatial

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Spatial Fields

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Idiom: topographic map
• data
–geographic geometry
–scalar spatial field
• 1 quant attribute per grid cell
• derived data
–isoline geometry
• isocontours computed for
specific levels of scalar values
• task
–understanding terrain shape
• densely lined regions = steep Land Information New Zealand Data Service

• pros
–use only 2D position, avoid 3D challenges
–color channel available for other
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attributes
Idioms: isosurfaces, direct volume rendering
• data
– scalar spatial field (3D volume)
• 1 quant attribute per grid cell
• task
– shape understanding, spatial relationships

[Interactive Volume Rendering Techniques. Kniss. Master’s thesis, University of Utah Computer Science, 2002.]
[Multidimensional Transfer Functions for Volume Rendering. Kniss, Kindlmann, and Hansen. In The Visualization 29
Handbook, edited by Charles Hansen and Christopher Johnson, pp. 189–210. Elsevier, 2005.]
Idioms: isosurfaces, direct volume rendering
• data
– scalar spatial field (3D volume)
• 1 quant attribute per grid cell
• task
– shape understanding, spatial relationships
• isosurface
– derived data: isocontours computed for specific levels of
scalar values

[Interactive Volume Rendering Techniques. Kniss. Master’s thesis, University of Utah Computer Science, 2002.]
[Multidimensional Transfer Functions for Volume Rendering. Kniss, Kindlmann, and Hansen. In The Visualization 30
Handbook, edited by Charles Hansen and Christopher Johnson, pp. 189–210. Elsevier, 2005.]
Idioms: isosurfaces, direct volume rendering
• data
– scalar spatial field (3D volume)
• 1 quant attribute per grid cell
• task
– shape understanding, spatial relationships
• isosurface
– derived data: isocontours computed for specific levels of
scalar values
• direct volume rendering
– transfer function maps scalar values to color, opacity
• no derived geometry

[Interactive Volume Rendering Techniques. Kniss. Master’s thesis, University of Utah Computer Science, 2002.]
[Multidimensional Transfer Functions for Volume Rendering. Kniss, Kindlmann, and Hansen. In The Visualization 31
Handbook, edited by Charles Hansen and Christopher Johnson, pp. 189–210. Elsevier, 2005.]
Vector and tensor fields
• data
– multiple attribs per cell (vector: 2)
• idiom families
– flow glyphs
• purely local
– geometric flow
• derived data from tracing particle trajectories
• sparse set of seed points [Comparing 2D vector field visualization methods: A user study. Laidlaw et al. IEEE
Trans. Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG) 11:1 (2005), 59–70.]

– texture flow
• derived data, dense seeds
– feature flow
• global computation to detect features [Topology tracking for the
– encoded with one of methods above visualization of time-dependent two-
dimensional flows. Tricoche, Wischgoll,
Scheuermann, and Hagen. Computers
& Graphics 26:2 (2002), 249–257.]
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Vector fields
• empirical study tasks
– finding critical points, identifying their types
– identifying what type of critical point is at a specific location
– predicting where a particle starting at a specified point will end up (advection)

[Comparing 2D vector field visualization methods: A user study. Laidlaw et al. IEEE
Trans. Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG) 11:1 (2005), 59–70.]

[Topology tracking for the

visualization of time-dependent two-
dimensional flows. Tricoche, Wischgoll,
Scheuermann, and Hagen. Computers
& Graphics 26:2 (2002), 249–257.]
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Idiom: similarity-clustered streamlines
• data
–3D vector field
• derived data (from field)
–streamlines: trajectory particle will follow
• derived data (per streamline)
–curvature, torsion, tortuosity
–signature: complex weighted combination
–compute cluster hierarchy across all signatures
–encode: color and opacity by cluster [Similarity Measures for
Enhancing Interactive

• tasks Streamline Seeding.

McLoughlin,. Jones, Laramee,
Malki, Masters, and. Hansen.

–find features, query shape IEEE Trans. Visualization and

Computer Graphics 19:8
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A set of derived attributes is computed for each streamline or pathline: curvature, namely, the curve’s deviation from a straight line.

Torsion, namely, how much the curve bends out of its plane; and tortuosity, namely, how twisted the curve is.

These three attributes are combined with a complex algorithm to form a fourth derived attribute, the line’s signature. These signatures are used to
construct

a similarity matrix, and that is in turn used to create a cluster hierarchy.

Idiom: Ellipsoid Tensor Glyphs
• data
– tensor field: multiple attributes at each cell
(entire matrix)
• stress, conductivity, curvature, diffusivity...
– derived data:
• shape (eigenvalues)
• orientation (eigenvectors)
• visual encoding
– glyph: 3D ellipsoid

[Superquadric Tensor Glyphs. Kindlmann. Proc. VisSym04, p147-154,

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2004.]
Arrange spatial data