Data Visualisation and Mapping Workshop

This workshop led by Richard Everson brought together researchers from around the University who are interested in data visualisation and mapping. Through a series of short talks and discussion, it explored the potential for new collaborations between those with data they would like to visualise or map and experts in visualisation techniques.

The workshop concluded with a buffet lunch.

Agenda

09.00 Arrival with coffee and tea

09.30 Welcome and introduction - Professor Richard Everson (Computer Science)

09.35 Evaluating visual information displays - Dr Will Stahl-Timmins (European Centre for Environment & Human Health)

09.50 GeoVisualisation of health data - Dr Clive Sabel (Geography)

10.05 Multi-objective visualisation of league tables - David Walker (Computer Science)

10.15 Monsoon Steel - Dr Gill Juleff (Archaeology)

10.30 Transforming shapes with soap and water, ink and data - Pery Burge (Artist in residence, CEMPS)

10.40 Data visualisation in Earth System Science - Professor Stephen Sitch (Geography)

10.45 Break & move to 3-D Visualisation Suite (Harrison Room 170) - Coffee, tea & biscuits

11.10 3D visualisation facilities in CEMPS – an introduction to R170 - Dr Gavin Tabor & Matt Johns (Engineering)

11.25 A 3D perspective on Antarctica - Dr Anne LeBrocq (Geography)

11.40 Visualisation in Astrophysics - Dr Dave Acreman (Physics)

11.55 Studying real life violence in virtual reality - Professor Mark Levine (Psychology)

12.10 Break & return to Poldhu Room, Kay Building

12.30 What colour is a 3-way wager? - Dr Tim Jupp (Mathematics)

12.45 Visualising uncertainty in climate reconstructions - Dr Rob Allan & Dr Philip Brohan (Met Office)

13.00 Mapping indeterminate location - Dr Antony Galton (Computer Science)

13.15 Lunch in Kay Building

14.15 Finish - Poldhu Room available until 15.30 for informal discussions

Abstracts and Presentations to Download

Will Stahl-Timmins - Evaluating Visual Information Displays - download slides

Will Stahl-Timmins introduced his work on the visual presentation of environment and human health data and information. He also talked about the task-based evaluation methods for information graphics that he developed as part of his PhD, and described his current research in comparative assessment of different presentation formats for information on the impacts of climate change.

Clive Sabel - GeoVisualisation of Health data - download slides

Clive's work uses GISc (Geographic Information Science) applied in to the field of spatial epidemiology. He is interested in developing spatial analysis techniques and methodologies for the analysis of individual level data through time. His presentation was illustrated with data on road traffic accidents in New Zealand, and Neurological disease in Finland.

David Walker - Multi-objective visualisation of league tables - download slides

League tables are often used to summarise performance on many aspects or 'key performance indicators'. We presented a novel visualisation for understanding the performance of individuals in a league, and showing how the arbitrary weighting of indicators can be avoided. The Times' Good University Guide league table was used to illustrate the method.

Dave Acreman - Visualisation in Astrophysics - download slides

Dave gave an overview of visualisation in a number of different areas in the Astrophysics group, with a focus on numerical modelling. A wide range of spatial scales are studied, from whole galaxies down to individual stars and planets, using a range of modelling techniques. This requires a diversity of visualisation approaches depending on the object being studied and the method employed.

Tim Jupp - What colour is a 3-way wager? - download slides

Weather forecasts are like odds for football matches. A forecaster's probabilities for, say, low/high/medium rainfall are essentially the same as a bookmaker's odds for win/lose/draw in a match. We have developed a technique for visualising forecasts as points within a triangle. This leads on to assigning a colour to each forecast which can be used to create maps of probabilistic forecasts. These gemoetrical ideas can be extended to provide a simple visual interpretation of verification ("how good were the forecasts?") and calibration ("how could the forecasts be improved?"). These ideas could be applied wherever probabilities (or proportions) are assigned across 3 outcomes.

Rob Allan & Philip Brohan - Visualising uncertainty in climate reconstructions

Understanding climate change requires knowledge of how the climate has changed in the past - to distinguish human-caused change from natural variability, means comparing today's weather with the history of the weather going back decades and centuries. Such comparisons have to deal with both a torrent and a shortage of data: To understand the changing nature of weather events such as storms, droughts, and heat waves as the climate varies, we need reconstructions of the state of the atmosphere covering decades or even centuries - many terabytes of data. However these reconstructions also have large uncertainties, because they are based on limited original observations. Reconstructing global weather requires international collaboration, and the Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) initiative is coordinating much of this work.

Workshop introductory presentation by Richard Everson

Gill Juleff's Presentation - Monsoon Steel

Pery Burge's Presentation - Transforming shapes with soap and water, ink and data

Stephen Sitch's Presentation - Data visualisation in Earth System Science 

Gavin Tabor's Presentation - Introduction to the 3D Visualisation Facilities in CEMPS 

Antony Galton's Presentation - Mapping indeterminate location