VISUALIZATION OF DATA

Visualization:
Data visualization is the graphical representation of information and data.
By using visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps, data visualization tools
provide an accessible way to see and understand trends, outliers, and patterns in data.
Visualization is translation of data from a database into graphics.
In the form of maps enabling the user to perceive the structure of the phenomenon
or the area represented.
Maps are the representation of visualization process.

Figure 1: Cartographic visualization

“How do I say what to whom, and is it effective?”

• “How” refers to the cartographic methods that are used for making the
graphics or the map.
• “I” refers to the cartographer, or the GIS user who is preparing the map for
exploring the data or for presentation.
 • “Say” refers to the semantics that represent the spatial data.
• “What” refers to the spatial data and its characteristics.
• “Whom” refers to the map audience.
• “Effective” refers to purpose of the map.

Maps
Representation of reality.
The reduced and generalized, in a scientific way, representation of the whole or part
of the earth onto a flat medium (generally paper or screen) is called a map. Two
types hard map and digital map are explained below.

Hard map or Paper Map

•They can be bought physically on physical stores: Paper maps are printed on
physical papers and can be available for purchase on physical stores on your way
home.
•Storage requires physical space: Storage of paper maps requires that you keep them
in a dedicated place in your house or in your suitcase since it can be physically
handled.
•Paper maps can be accessed offline: Paper maps are printed on paper that can be
stored anywhere and can therefore be accessed from anywhere. You do not need a
computer or internet connection to access it.
•Mostly uses symbols to represent features and routes: Paper maps mostly rely on
symbols to represent features or routes that are physically seen on land. You
therefore need to interpret the symbols when reading paper maps.
•Cannot be updated easily: Paper maps are printed on paper and can therefore not be
updated on the same paper. This means that you cannot make any changes on the
map based on the changes in landforms.
•It is static: Paper maps are static representations of features on land at the time when
the representations were created. One cannot modify to see the previous version of
the area.
• Paper maps cannot represent all features at the same time(sometime): paper maps
usually make a representation of one aspect of the land at a time, for instance, a map
could represent the rivers only or the geographical area of a place.
•Paper maps are limited to specific area based on the scale of the map: Paper maps
are representations that are limited on a specific area of the land and not the entire
geographical location.

Digital Map
•Storage requires digital space: Digital maps do not require physical space for
storage. They are stored in digital format and therefore require digital space.
•Digital maps can be accessed online: Digital maps cannot be accessed anywhere
else besides online. One therefore requires an internet connection to access them
online.
•Show all features including time and the actual building: Digital map do not depend
on symbols to represent features. Instead, they show the actual features and the time.
•Can be easily updated: Digital map is mostly real time representations of an area
and can therefore be updated easily because the changes will be updated
automatically.
•It is dynamic: Digital maps are dynamic which means one can choose to view the
previous versions of the represented area unlike paper maps.
•Digital maps can represent all features at the same time: Digital maps can be used
to represent all features of a given area at the same time. They allow filtering for
specific features but can also show the entire area.
•Digital maps are not limited to any area: Digital maps are not limited to show only
a specific area based on scale. They can be widened to show the entire area.
•May not require special skills since it shows the real-life object: Interpreting digital
maps is easier than paper maps since the features are real representations of the real-
world objects.
•Good at showing area overlays from various angles: Digital maps do not only show
2D representations of an area. They can be used to show the 3D angle of the area
and also show the area overlays.

Map Data Types:

Maps portray statistical data. Maps are the representation of real-world features.
Fundamentally, maps display only two types of data: qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative data:
Qualitative data differentiates between various types of things. The categorical
differences in qualitative data can be shown with symbols that vary by color hue
(e.g., red, green, blue) and shape (e.g., circles, squares, triangles).

Quantitative data:
Quantitative data communicates a message of magnitude. Data grouped or shown
by measurements of number or amount, such as population per unit area.

Measurement Level of data:

Nominal Data:
Nominal data differ in type, and cannot be ranked.
For example: land use (residential, commercial, park), or tree species (maple, oak,
fir).
Ordinal
Ordinal data can be ranked but have only relative values (low, medium, high) on the
basis of some quantitative measure but difference cannot be measured.
For example: small, medium, and large cities or single-lane, double-lane, and four-
lane roads.

Interval
Quantitative information with arbitrary zero information that can be arranged
(ranked) using a standard scale along which operations of addition and subtraction
have meaning.
For example: Temperature is an interval measure because the respective zero points
of their measurement scale have been selected at random, it is impossible to say that
for instance a temperature of 640 F is twice of 320 F. Temperature of 0 C doesn’t
mean there is no temperature present.

Ratio
Information that, like interval data, can be arranged along a scale but, in addition,
the scale begins at a non-arbitrary zero point. At the zero point, no features are
present.
The operations of multiplication and division can be employed with ratio data to
consider proportions and magnitudes.
For example: Elevation above sea level, precipitation, and population are all
examples of ratio data.

Visual Variables
We can make point, line, and area marks on the map appear more or less distinctive
and prominent by altering their shape, size, color, etc.
These graphic variations are called visual variables.
The term ‘visual variable’ was introduced in 1967 by Jacques Bertin.

Bertin visual variables:

1. Position: for locational aspects of geospatial data. It refers to the location of
a symbol.
2. Form: Form refers to the shape of the symbol.
 3. Orientation: Orientation refers to the direction of a symbol.
4. Color: Color refers to the hue of the symbol.
5. Texture: Grain/Texture refers to the coarseness (resolution or spacing) of the
graphic elements within a symbol while value remains constant.
6. Value: Value refers to the relative lightness or darkness of a symbol. It is a
black: white ratio.
7. Size: Size refers to the dimension of the symbol.

The visual variables enable observers to perceive:

 • What belongs together, is of equal importance
• Order
• Quantities
• An instant overview of the whole representation.

Map Types
Static Maps
➢ The digital equivalents of paper map.
➢ User may be able to zoom in or out on the map, the content of the map is
static.
➢ Scale of the map cannot be changed.
➢ Areas off the edges of the map cannot be viewed and components of the map
cannot be toggled on or off.
➢ Is often digital scan of a paper map or an export from a GIS package.

Dynamic Maps
➢ Those maps whose data are connected with the database and are updated in
map whenever the database is updated are dynamic maps.
➢ For example: Population census map that is frequently updated at the
databases and are shown in the map as soon as the data is updated.

Interactive Maps
➢ In the interactive maps, User can interact with maps by toggling layer on/off
or by changing color, symbols at the time of viewing maps.
➢ Includes the ability to change the map’s extent through zooming and panning.
➢ Other form of interactivity includes ability to: obtain detailed information
about map features, browse to web sites associated with map features, produce
a personalized map, and explore data patterns and relationships using
visualization tools that are dynamically linked to the map.
Base Map and Thematic map
Base map
➢ Map used as a topographic / locational framework for the depiction of
thematic information.
➢ Generally produced from original survey.
➢ Objective -to portray the relationships of a selection of different geographical
features in an accurate and representative manner.
➢ Base data (framework data) –hydrography, land use / land cover,
transportation network, buildings and settlements, administrative boundaries,
relief, geographical names, geodetic control.
➢ Usually produced in a series of individual sheets.
➢ Great attention is paid to positional accuracy of features to have the validity
of legal documents.
➢ Typical products of major national mapping agencies -foundation on which
other mapping and related studies are built.
➢ Scale and specification of base map:
• Large scale
• Up –to –date
• Complete and consistent
• If possible, not generalized
• Correctly assessed and classified
• Position and geometry not distorted

Generalization
The process of reducing the amount of detail in a map (or database) in a meaningful
way.
➢ Generalization related to the map purpose
➢ Generalization is scale related
➢ Generalization is partly subjective
➢ Generalization is output related

If a map is produced from a database (or a map) at a scale smaller than intended the
map might become illegible. The data (map) require generalization.
Following are the reason for map generalization:
Thematic Mapping:
➢ A thematic map is a type of map that portrays the geographic pattern of
a particular subject matter (theme) in a geographic area. This usually
involves the use of map symbols to visualize selected properties of
geographic features that are not naturally visible, such as temperature,
language, or population.
➢ Show the distribution and the thematic characteristics of one
phenomenon (or several phenomena) using (selected) framework data
as a base.
➢ Based on qualitative or quantitative information.
➢ Qualitative mapping
• Showing characteristic feature
• map showing the distribution of people by mother tongue or
religion.
➢ Quantitative thematic maps, (also called statistical maps)
• provide some information about the relative size of the features
that are mapped.
• a map in which the symbols representing the cities in a country
are scaled according to the size of each city.
• a map in which reporting areas such as districts are shaded
according to their population density.
Cartographers use many methods to create thematic maps. Some methods are:
Choropleth map, Dasymetric map, Dot map, isoline map, Flow map and so on.

Choropleth Map:
• The choropleth map is one of the most frequently used maps in Geospatial
data. It is a type of thematic map in which we use color to represent statistics
of an attribute feature we are interested proportionally to its location.
Choropleths are good at displaying densities using colors.
• One particular drawback of using choropleth maps is that areas are not
uniform, and thus the displayed results might not portray the right results. For
example, large geographic areas might dominate the visual.
 Figure 2: Choropleth map

Dot Map:
• A dot distribution map, or dot density map, is a thematic map type that uses
dots (variation of marks) to display the presence or absence of a feature.
Typically, one point is assigned to represent a larger quantity.

Figure 3: Dot Map

Flow Maps
• Flow maps are maps that use line symbols to portray movement or relationship
between two or more places, such as air travel, monetary aid, or economic
trade. The lines may be schematic straight lines or curves, or may represent
the actual travel route.

Figure 4: Flow map

Dasymetric Map
• A dasymetric map is a type of thematic map that uses areal symbols to
visualize a geographic field by refining a choropleth map with ancillary
information about the distribution of the variable.
• Dasymetric maps are used instead of choropleth maps because they represent
underlying data distributions more accurately.

Figure 5: Choropleth map (Left) and Dasymetric Map (Right)

Graduated Symbol maps
• Graduated maps are an alternative to choropleth maps. The difference is
instead of using color to indicate feature attributes or statistics; Graduated
symbol map uses points. The data is likely stored in Polygons and then
converted to centroid points for these areas. We use this type of map when we
intend to visualize quantities rather than densities in Choropleth map.

Figure 6: Symbol Map

Map Design:
• Design is creation.
• Graphic design produces visual forms.
• Variety of graphic signs are used, having qualitative and quantitative
meanings, which becomes designated symbols.
• These signs must be clearly distinguishable from every other sign, for
effective graphic communication.
• Cartographer must pay attention to the principles of graphic communication.
• Designing a map to evoke in the minds of viewer an environmental image
appropriate to the map purpose.
• Many graphical ways to represent geographic data through symbols but the
concern to map designer is to assign specific meaning to these distinctive
marks.
• Communication objective of maps ranges from general reference maps
(topographic maps) to the thematic maps.
 • Designing a map differs from the aesthetic art form like painting, music,
fiction or dance because map has a strong fidelity to reality.
• Thus, mapmaking is a mixture of art, science and technology, involving the
process of purposeful assembling, processing and generalizing diverse data
and then symbolically displaying them as a meaningful, functional portrayal.
• Basic requirement in map design is the willingness and ability to think in
visual terms.

• Good map design to communicate information and data clearly, accurately

and economically to users having a minimum of map reading skills.

Map Design Process:

• Design process involves a series of operations.
• 3 stages of map design:
1. Drawing general design plan based heavily on imagination and creativity.
2. Developing a specific graphic plan.
3. Preparation of detailed specifications for map construction

Principles of Cartographic Design:

Cartographers apply many design principles when compiling their maps and
constructing page layouts. Five of the main design principles are legibility, visual
contrast, figure-ground, hierarchical organization, and balance. Together these form
a system for seeing and understanding the relative importance of the content in the
map and on the page. Without these, map-based communication will fail. Together
visual contrast and legibility provide the basis for seeing the contents on the map.
Figure-ground, hierarchical organization, and balance lead the map reader through
the contents to determine the importance of things and ultimately find patterns.

Legibility:
Legibility is “the ability to be seen and understood”. Many people work to make
their map contents and page elements easily seen, but it is also important that they
can be understood. Graphic symbols must be easy to read and understand.
Visual Contrast:
Contrast – the difference of energy level reflected by different objects is termed as
contrast. Visual contrast which relates to how map features and page elements
contrast with each other and their background.

Figure – Ground Organization

Some elements as figure and others as ground. Figure: a coherent shape or form,
with clear outlines in front of or above its surroundings.

Hierarchical Organization
One of the major objectives in map making is to “separate meaningful characteristics
and to portray likenesses, differences, and interrelationships”. Separating
meaningful characteristics and portraying likeness, differences and
interrelationships on levels of relative importance is called hierarchical organization.

Balance
Balance involves the organization of the map and other elements on the page. A
well-balanced map page results in an impression of equilibrium and harmony.

Factors affecting Map Design:

Web mapping:
Web mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering
maps on the World Wide Web and its product. Web maps are created and delivered
through web networks or internet. Web map are online map created through GIS that
provides the way to work and interact with geographic information. Web map are
the interactive display of geographic information which provides the answers to the
questions related with time and space. With the advent of web mapping,
geographical information can be shared, visualized, and edited in the browser. The
most important advantage to this is accessibility: a web map, just like any website,
can be reached by anyone from any device that has an internet browser and an
internet connection. Some examples of web maps are: Google maps, Open Street
maps, Topo zone maps, Airplane Navigation.
Web maps can be classified into different groups depending on the way they provide
information and they facilitate users to interact with the map contents. Different
types of web maps are listed below.
• Static Web maps
• Dynamic Web maps
• Animated Web maps
• Real Time Web maps
• Interactive web maps
• Personalized web maps
• Distributed web maps
• Analytical web maps