Chapter 5 – Space and Time

Authors: Gennady Andrienko, Natalia Andrienko, Heidrun Schumann, Christian Tominski, Urska Demsar, Doris Dransch, Jason Dykes, Sara Fabrikan, Mikael Jern, Menno-Jan Kraak

This chapter describes the requirements of visual analytics for spatio-temporal applications. Space (as in for example maps) and time (values change over time) are essential components of many data analysis problems; hence there is a strong need for visual analytics tools specifically designed to deal with the particular characteristics of these dimensions. Using a sizeable fictitious scenario, the authors guide the reader towards the specifics of time and space, illustrating the involvement of various people and agencies, and the many dependencies and problems associated with scale and uncertainties in the data. The current state of the art is described with a review of maps, geographic information systems, the representation of time, interactive and collaborative issues, and the implication of dealing with massive datasets. Challenges are then identified, such as dealing with diverse data at multiple scales, and supporting a varied set of users, including non-experts.

chapter 5 (3.4MB) [Note that the images are low res. to reduce the file size]