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An interactive visualization approach to the overview of geoscience data

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Abstract

Geoscience observation data refer to the datasets consisting of time series of multiple parameters generated from the sensors at fixed locations. Although a few works have attempted to visualize such data, none of them views these data as a specific type and attempts to show the overview in all the space, time and attribute aspects. It is important for domain experts to select the subsets of interest from huge amounts of observation data according to the high level patterns shown in the overview. We present a novel approach to visualize geoscience observation data in a compact radial view. Our solution consists of three visual elements. A map showing the spatial aspect is in the center of the visualization, while temporal and attribute aspects are seamlessly combined with the spatial information. Our approach is equipped with interactive mechanisms for highlighting the selected features, adjusting the display range, as well as interactively generating a fisheye view. We demonstrate the usability of our approach with three case studies of different domains. Eye tracking records and user feedbacks obtained in a small experiment also prove the effectiveness of our approach.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Zhao Xiao and Huan Yang for their discussions. We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments that have helped us in improving the final presentation. This work was supported by Tianjin “Big Data Algorithms and Applications” project (13CZDGX01099).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Software, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China

    Jie Li, Zhao-Peng Meng & Mao-Lin Huang

  2. School of Software, The University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

    Mao-Lin Huang

  3. Department of Computer Science, MS EC31, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 75080-3021, USA

    Kang Zhang

Authors
  1. Jie Li
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  2. Zhao-Peng Meng
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  3. Mao-Lin Huang
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  4. Kang Zhang
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Correspondence to Kang Zhang.

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Li, J., Meng, ZP., Huang, ML. et al. An interactive visualization approach to the overview of geoscience data. J Vis 20, 433–451 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12650-016-0352-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12650-016-0352-z

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