An Interactive Radial Visualization of Geoscience Observation Data

Geoscience observation data refers 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 features of these 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 interested subsets from huge amounts of observation data according to the high level patterns shown in the overview. We present a novel approach to visualizing 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 effectiveness and usability of our approach with a usability experiment. Eye tracking records and user feedbacks obtained in the experiment prove the effectiveness of our approach.