INCREASING THE IMPACT OF OPEN DATA THROUGH VISUALISATION: CARTOGRAPHIC VISUALISATION OF OCEAN DATA

Abstract

Many national and international agencies and organizations collect and provide open access to data on parts of the Earth's surface covered by water. Data on ocean temperature and acidity, precipitation, river flows, lake, sea, and groundwater levels, and many other open data sets allow researchers to monitor and observe water at different scales and time frames, and to better understand ecological processes and human impacts on the water environment. The main challenge in analyzing the vast amount of openly available data on seas, oceans, and other parts of the Earth's surface covered by water is their heterogeneity and the complexity of dynamic processes, which can be highly variable both spatially and temporally. Effective visualization of such data on a map can help in the effort to make mutual relationships obvious, to recognize the impacts of different actions, and model and evaluate tradeoffs among possible solutions. This paper explores the options available to cartographers for designing various thematic representations of data related to the water-covered portions of the Earth's surface. Using a set of openly available data, we demonstrate how choice of map projection, color schema type, and color palette can influence the transfer of information related to ocean health. In this process we examine the role of cartography in designing various thematic representations of data related to parts of the Earth's surface covered by water.