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Exploratory Visualization

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of GIS

  • 282 Accesses

Synonyms

Exploratory Cartography; Geovisualization; Information Visualization; Private Visual Thinking; Reexpression; Scientific Visualization; Temporal Ordered Space Matrix; Visual Data Exploration; Visual Thinking

Definition

Exploratory visualization is the process that involves a discipline expert creating maps and other graphics while dealing with relatively unknown geographic data. These maps are generally for a single purpose, and function as an expedient in the expert’s attempt to solve a (geo) problem. While dealing with the data, the expert should be able to rely on cartographic expertise, which allows her or him to look at the data from different perspectives to create a fresh view on the data. As such, the maps and graphics, which should be available in an interactive viewing environment, stimulate the visual thinking of the expert and should support (spatial) decision making.

Historical Background

Visualization means to make visible. Traditionally the cartographic...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geo-Information Processing, ITC – International Institute for Geoinformation and Earth Observation, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Menno-Jan Kraak

Authors
  1. Menno-Jan Kraak
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Shashi Shekhar

  2. Management Science and Information Systems Department, Rutgers Business School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA

    Hui Xiong

  3. Department of Management Sciences, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Xun Zhou

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Kraak, MJ. (2017). Exploratory Visualization. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H., Zhou, X. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17885-1_397

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